After receiving rehabilitation for the past four months, 218 drug addicts in southern Hel-mand province have been sent home, officials said on Thursday.
The drug addicts who were kept in the central jail of Hel-mand were sent home during a ceremony which was at-tended by Helmand Deputy Governor MulaviHizbullah, re-ligious scholars and family members of the addicts.
MulaviHizbullah, talking to the ceremony, said that 218 drug addicts were being reunited with their families today after receiving four months of treatment and religious educa-tion at the province’s central prison.
These men were not only ad-dicted to drugs, but were also accused of stealing from mosques, houses and shops, he said.He said leaders of the Islamic Emirate had decided that drug addicts would be collected and sent to prisons for educa-tion and reform.
He called on the people to help the government in identi-fying such people so that they can be treated and rehabili-tated. Atif, director of Helmand Cen-tral Prison, called on the re-leased prisoners to stop using drugs and crimes and live in the society as healthy human beings.
Assadullah and Mahmood, who were rehabilitated, told local media that they had spent four months in the prison, during which they had endured many hardships in absence of drugs.