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Afghanistan is almost universally acknowledged as the greatest opium producer in the world. The substance, which is used to make heroin, has, in turn, been recognised as the most dangerous drug worldwide.

According to United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Afghani production has largely exceeded estimated global demand for the past several years, resulting in the creation of large stocks.

This has massively affected the lives of women in the troubled country - Nejat, an independent Afghani NGO - estimates that around 60,000 women in Afghanistan regularly take illegal drugs, including hashish and marijuana. The conservative community, however, ignores the topic of female drug users.

The economic situation is poor with little funding and with no access to substitution drugs such as methadone, treatment is rudimentary at best. The whole affair is an urgent problem for a poor country riven by conflicts for more than three decades, according to a Reuters report.

It has further been revealed that the consumption of opium in Afghanistan is also increasingly being used for recreational purposes.

Check out these photos of Afghani female drug addicts and the lives they lead...