BAGHDAD — In new Iraq, many children do not go to school or play in the streets but rather hid in corners to take drugs or even worse sell them.
Ahmed, 12, is one of them.
"Smoking marijuana makes me happy even being orphan," the child, who has lost his parents to the bloody violence, told IslamOnline.net.
"I like to feel the sensation that, for a period of time, can help me forget all the problems I have," said Ahmed, not his real name.
"I do it as much as I want, until I feel safe again just like I used to feel before my parents were killed."
Experts say many children, especially orphans, have fallen prey to drugs over the past few years.
"Prior to the 2003 US-led invasion, drug addiction, mainly among children, was practically non-existent," said Ameer Mohammad Bayat, a psychologist working with child addicts.
He notes that in many cases children turn to drugs to lessen the pain and sufferings inflicted by the war.
"Years of violence have driven those innocent to drugs."
Other children, who suddenly found themselves the breadwinners of their families, also find their way to drug addiction on the streets, Bayat added.
UNICEF reports have warned that drug addiction is becoming more of a phenomenon amongst Iraqi children.
There has been a 30 percent increase in addiction among children since 2005, according to specialists.
Since last year alone, the number of child addicts jumped by nearly 10 percent, they estimate.
Dealers
The problem goes far beyond addiction, with many children being trapped in a thriving drugs trade in new Iraq.
"There is a huge market for drugs in Iraq where children are the main columns inside the drug dealing gangs," Yehia Khalil, who works for a local NGO tackling the issue in Baghdad, told IOL.
He said gangs usually target children who lost a beloved one or those working on the streets.
"The dealers offer job and relief, easily bringing drug dependence among those innocent kids."
It is not uncommon to see children selling drugs in some districts of the capital as well as in some poor neighborhoods in southern provinces.
Iraq's Children Drug Addicts, Dealers :: www.uruknet.info :: informazione dall'Iraq occupato :: news from occupied Iraq :: - it