The Republican Center for Narcology (RCN) represents a Ministry of Health branch responsible for revealing, registering and assisting drug users. According to results for 2003, the number of drug users registered reached 6,500 persons. “Annually, we register 800-900 new cases of first-time drug users. And there is a tendency of users becoming ever younger”, the head of the RCN Asanov Tynchtybek told the Analyst.

However, most drug users try to avoid registration in governmental institutions, because it blocks job opportunities for them. Asanov Tynchtybek claims “The stigma is caused by the society, not medical offers, which is not yet ready to accept living and working with drug users or people infected with HIV/AIDS”.

Kubatbekov Kurmanbek, head of Drug Control Agency of the Kyrgyz Republic, recently told parliament that “the relatively low rate of growth in drug addiction can be explained by a high rate of mortality among registered drug users. By some estimates, annually a third of registered users die”.

Batma Estebesova, leader of the NGO ‘Socium’ noted that “Over 70% of our beneficiaries are not registered at the RCN”. The NGO began working in 1997, and seeks to assist people being addicted to substances such as drugs, alcohol and tobacco. Drug users can anonymously come and receive any help they need, starting with a needle exchange program and legal assistance, and finishing with becoming part of a “twelve step” program that originated in the Unites States in the 1930s.

Nearly 7,600 drug users have used the services of ‘Socium’, and most of them did become members of the twelve step program conducted with the assistance of international organizations. Even though the number of private practices and private hospitals engaged in the treatment of drug addiction have increased, “all programs active in Kyrgyzstan focused on assisting drug users covers only four percent of the drug users”, Estebesova stated.

Asanov Tynchtybek presented the picture of the typical drug user as follows. ”A young man aged 28-30 years, living with parents or having his own family. 80% are unemployed, even though they have a general education level. He has several convictions. He started using drugs, typically Cannabis, at the age of 20-21, and began injecting drugs (opium or heroin) at 27. Only 30% are women. 10 years passed before the typical drug user was registered at RCN”.

According to the estimates of “Socium”, coherent with the reports of international organizations, 60-70% of drug addicts live in the Chuy valley and Bishkek city, even though the focus of the world community is on the Osh oblast, the main transit region for drug trafficking.

A vital role in the deterioration of the drug situation is played by the country’s domestic drugs base – cannabis and ephedrine, which are widely grown in the republic. In the Chuy valley, situated on the Kyrgyz-Kazakh border, there are large plantations of wild-growing hemp (approximately 140 000 hectares). Drug users usually begin with “soft drugs” like cannabis, and then move toward the use of heroin. Currently, 60-70% of drug addicts use heroin and the share is constantly increasing.

Forecasting the future development of drug addiction, Tynchtybek Asanov is not optimistic, and assumes that the estimates of international organizations at 80,000 drug users can be confirmed. Cannabis plantations have become sources for the first experimenting with drugs by new users, which then turns into opium or heroin addiction. Those revealed young drug users could become future consumers of “hard drugs”, such as heroin, hence increasing the share of heroin addiction. Estebesova is calling for not curtailing international organizations’ programs, such as needle exchange programs and rehabilitation programs like the twelve step program for drug users. In sum, drug addiction has reached the edge of a drug epidemic in Kyrgyzstan.