Number of drug addicts on rise in Azerbaijan – TV report

ANS TV, Baku
18 Apr 05

[Presenter] Over the past two years, some 18,000 drug addicts have been
officially registered in Azerbaijan. According to unofficial reports,
the number of drug addicts has reached 200,000. An even more worrying
fact is that this number is increasing by the year.

[Mazahir Afandiyev, captioned as the national coordinator of the
programme to monitor drugs in the South Caucasus, interviewed
by journalists] So far, light drugs, the likes of marijuana and
cannabis, used to be the most common. However, the law-enforcement
bodies have recently started confiscating kilogrammes of heroin from
illegal turnover. This shows that heavier drugs are now consumed in
Azerbaijan. That is, they use more heroin and other heavy drugs.