Addiction in Afghanistan

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Pascale Harter introduces a special essay from Darius Bazargan, on the ethical dilemmas of reporting on Afghanistan's new wave of heroin abuse. Making a film in Kabul which followed one of the country's hundreds of thousands of addicts, he witnessed wretched scenes of physical and spiritual degradation. But this would be a dangerous issue to ignore: it's been estimated that around a million people (out of the population of 30 million) have a serious drug problem. Their addiction is worming its way through Afghan society in silence, largely undiscussed and unremarked, as it's considered so shameful. So how much should we - or anyone - see of the mess their lives have become? (Image: Welcome to Kabul sign)