Afghanistan's opium problem
Afghan farmers collect raw opium as they work in a poppy field in the Khogyani district of Jalalabad, east of Kabul, Afghanistan, May 10, 2013.
Afghanistan's opium production surged in 2013 to record levels, despite 12 years of international efforts to wean the country off the narcotics trade, according to a report released Wednesday by the U.N.'s drug control agency.
Read more: Afghan opium production hits record high, U.N. says
Afghan drug trade
An Afghan drug addict holds hands with a visitor who visited a drug treatment facility in Kabul to provide comfort, Nov. 13, 2013.
As Afghanistan continues to produce the world's largest crop of opium, it is creating more addicts at home.
Afghan drug trade
Afghan villagers take a break after preparing the soil for their poppy seeds in fields in Cham Kalai village, in Afghanistan's eastern Nangarhar province, an area which is largely controlled by Taliban, Nov. 12, 2013.
It is in rural Afghanistan, in villages like Cham Kalai, where the insurgency is the strongest and security is the weakest, that nearly 90 percent of all poppies are grown, says a 2103 drug survey released Nov. 13, 2013 by the U.N.'s drug control agency. Planting season, which began in Afghanistan in October will end at the end of November.
Afghan drug trade
Afghan poppy farmer Khan Bacha sows his poppy fields in Cham Kalai village, a Taliban stronghold, Nov. 12, 2013.
Despite 12 years of trying to wean farmers of poppy growing, in 2013 they grew more poppies then ever before.
Afghan drug trade
An Afghan drug addict looks down a staircase covered by steel bars to protect against attempted suicides at a drug treatment facility in Kabul, Nov. 13, 2013.
A U.N. report on drugs in Afghanistan says there are now 90 drug rehab facilities in the country, up from 30 in 2012.
Afghan drug trade
Afghan poppy farmers prepare the soil for their seeds in Cham Kalai village, Nov. 12, 2013.
Afghan drug trade
Afghan drug addicts walk down a staircase covered by steel bars to protect against attempted suicides at a drug treatment facility in Kabul, Nov. 13, 2013.
Afghan drug trade
An Afghan drug addict prays at a drug treatment facility in the eastern Nangarhar provincial capital of Jalalabad, Nov. 12, 2013.
Farmers in Nangarhar increased their poppy production by 400 percent in 2013.
Afghan drug trade
Afghan poppy farmers take a break after preparing the soil for their poppy seeds in Cham Kalai village in Afghanistan's eastern Nangarhar province, an area which is largely controlled by Taliban, Nov. 12, 2013.
Afghan drug trade
Afghan men play cards in their room at a drug treatment facility in the eastern Nangarhar provincial capital of Jalalabad, Nov. 12, 2013.
Afghan drug trade
It is estimated that more than one million Afghans are drug addicts, 15 percent of whom are women and children.
Afghan drug trade
An Afghan drug addict sits alone in a dilapidated TV room at a drug treatment facility in the eastern Nangarhar provincial capital of Jalalabad, Nov. 12, 2013.
Afghan drug trade
Afghan farmers collect raw opium as they work in a poppy field in the Khogyani district of Jalalabad east of Kabul, Afghanistan, May 10, 2013.
Afghan drug trade
Afghan poppy farmer Khan Bacha sows his fields with the only crop he says brings him enough money to pay his bills and feed his family in Cham Kalai village in Afghanistan's eastern Nangarhar province, Nov. 12, 2013.
Cham Kalai, where poppy production increased 400 percent in 2013, has no electricity and no running water. There isn't a health clinic for miles and girls schools are shunned.
Afghan drug trade
A group of Afghan drug addicts huddle together in a garbage-strewn riverbed in the center of Kabul, Nov. 10, 2013.
Afghan drug trade
Afghan poppy farmers prepare the soil for their poppy seeds in Cham Kalai village in Afghanistan's eastern Nangarhar province, Nov. 12, 2013.
Afghan drug trade
An Afghan drug addict hides behind garbage containers while smoking opium in the center of Kabul, Nov. 9, 2013.
Afghan drug trade
A poppy farmer walks to the fields across a narrow stream in Cham Kalai village in Afghanistan's eastern Nangarhar province, Nov. 12, 2013.
Afghan drug trade
An Afghan drug addict peers through barred windows at a drug treatment facility in Kabul, Nov. 13, 2013.
Afghan drug trade
Afghan boys leave school to help prepare the soil for poppy seeds in Cham Kalai village in Afghanistan's eastern Nangarhar province, Nov. 12, 2013.
Children and women have to help plant the poppy crop because the planting season in Afghanistan is less then two months, and poor farmers have only basic equipment.