A Second Shot: Drug Addiction in Afghanistan

A Second Shot offers a stark look at addiction in Afghanistan inside Ibn Sina, one of Kabul's largest drug rehabilitation centres. The documentary follows residents as they endure the physical and emotional challenges of withdrawal while adjusting to life inside the centre.

The documentary also follows Babrak, a former mujahideen fighter who now helps residents alongside a small and under-resourced medical team. Together, they work to provide treatment despite limited medication, scarce resources, and an uncertain future, offering a stark look at the human consequences of addiction and the challenges of recovery in Afghanistan.

Note: Since this documentary was released, reports have continued to document serious concerns about Afghanistan's compulsory drug rehabilitation system. Investigations have alleged that some Taliban-run rehabilitation centres rely on forced detention, inadequate medical care, food shortages, physical abuse, and compulsory labour rather than evidence-based addiction treatment. Taliban officials maintain that these programmes are intended to remove drug use from the streets and help people recover, but human rights organizations and journalists have raised ongoing concerns about conditions inside these facilities.

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"In life, the one thing that's worse than misery and desperation is poverty. It leads you to stop believing in God and fall into unemployment. Everything is due to poverty."

"The plan for today is to round up some addicts. The area we're heading to is known to security forces. We're going to round them up and head to the hospital. That's all we can plan for now. We'll know more when we come back."

"I think Afghanistan is cursed. Every day, more and more people are becoming addicts because of the country's collapsed economy. I know what I'm talking about. I used to be an addict myself. Every day, the number of addicts is growing and there's no solution in sight."

"In my opinion, drug addiction is completely forbidden in Islam. It's totally forbidden. I still stand by my promise. Drugs are completely forbidden, not only in our capital, Kabul. We want to put an end to addiction in the 34 provinces. We want to reduce it to zero. Cultivating it, selling it and smoking it."

"The people we bring from outside are completely destitute. They can't wash themselves; they only consume drugs. There are no facilities out there to take a shower and to stay clean."

"I have four children, two sons and two daughters. They're with their mother at home. My two older brothers are paying for my family's expenses. I was going around the city pickpocketing people finding money for my addiction, taking drugs and sleeping anywhere I lay down. When I cross the road, even the children shout, "powder addict". That's not a good life."

"In the first 15 days, the patients are very aggressive. They curse the doctors and staff. Sometimes, they commit suicide and a lot of other stuff. You have to be very strict. Maybe hundreds of people have cursed me for being like that. But that's okay because I know they'll be better after 10 to 15 days. And after 45 days, they're fully recovered."

"When you stop using, you forget everything. It's like the beam of a torch in the dark, you only focus on one thing, the drug. If you quit, you can't control your nostrils, you can't control your tears. Your whole body stops functioning."

"International aid has been significantly reduced since the Taliban takeover. The Ibn Sina hospital struggles to stay open and only a handful of medical staff continue to work there. Addicts have to suffer withdrawal without medication."^1,2

"There are a growing number of addicts in rural areas and in the north and I've seen more women addicted to opium as well, but I don't know the exact numbers that the world community or the UN have estimated."³