VZCZCXRO4394
PP RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHBC RUEHBI RUEHCI RUEHDE RUEHDF RUEHDIR RUEHIK
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DE RUEHAH #0188/01 0370520
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 060520Z FEB 09
FM AMEMBASSY ASHGABAT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 2271
INFO RUCNCLS/ALL SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVE
RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE
RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE
RUCNIRA/IRAN COLLECTIVE
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA 4798
RUEHIT/AMCONSUL ISTANBUL 3042
RHMFIUU/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ASHGABAT 000188 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR SCA/CEN, NEA/IR AND INL 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SNAR PGOV PREL IR TX
SUBJECT: TURKMENISTAN'S TROUBLING DRUG ADDICTION PROBLEM 
 
¶1. (U)  Sensitive but unclassified. Not for public Internet. 
 
¶2. (U)  Summary:  The fact that Turkmenistan suffers from a 
serious heroin addiction problem (10 percent of the 
population, according to the World Health Organization), is 
something that the Turkmen Government has barely begun to 
acknowledge.  Notwithstanding President Berimuhamedov's 
public reference to it on more than one occasion, authorities 
are not forthcoming about statistics, and treatment options 
remain extremely limited.  Harm reduction measures, such as 
needle exchanges, are not allowed, although one INL-funded 
demand reduction program was recently inaugurated to educate 
youth about the hazards of drug use. Law enforcement sources 
note the relationship between a rise in drug addiction and a 
correlating rise in violent crimes and prostitution. 
Small-scale merchants from Turkmenistan who travel to Iran to 
buy goods have also reportedly become involved in drug 
smuggling.  END SUMMARY. 
 
OFFICIAL ACKNOWLEDGEMENT, BUT NO STATISTICS 
 
¶3. (U)  In his New Year's address to the nation, President 
Berdimuhamedov announced that the state would continue taking 
"rigorous measures" to prevent the spread of drug addiction 
in Turkmenistan.  Even as the government begins to openly 
acknowledge and discuss the existence of an addiction problem 
in Turkmenistan, however, it is very reluctant to provide 
details of the number of addicts, drugs used, or the kinds of 
treatment available.  The President did state during an open 
cabinet session last year that there are more than 30,000 
addicts.  However, the World Health Organization has 
estimated that 10 percent of the population (i.e. 500,000 
people) are addicted to heroin in this country. 
 
¶4. (U) Background:  During the Soviet period alcoholism rates 
in Turkmenistan were high, but opiates were rarely used, with 
the exception of in rural areas where a paste made from opium 
was commonly used as a pain reliever.  Drug addiction was 
rare, and cannabis or hashish use was normally associated 
only with criminal behavior.  Drug addicts were, therefore, a 
rarity; a specter and known to everyone residing in a village 
or district.  End Background. 
 
¶5. (SBU) By the mid-1990's, however, after Turkmenistan's 
independence and during the period of Taliban control of 
Afghanistan, Central Asia became a major transshipment route 
for Afghan opiates and drug use swiftly expanded.  During the 
period of transition, with its accompanying high rates of 
unemployment and economic hardship, a dose of heroin became 
less expensive than a bottle of vodka.  According to a 
Turkmen police captain, unemployed Turkmen often travel to 
Iran or Turkey to purchase consumer goods for resale at home. 
 Some soon find it easier to make money smuggling heroin 
rather than textiles or other goods.  The same source noted 
that women who find themselves burdened with supporting their 
family financially have also begun to become involved in the 
drug trade, importing heroin in items such as carpets. 
(NOTE:  In a conversation with Political Officer, a Turkmen 
laborer from the town of Tejen, near the Iranian border, said 
that high unemployment rates had pushed "many, many" women 
from his region to travel frequently to Iran to purchase 
consumer items, like cellular telephones, for resale.  In 
addition, in the opinion of this source, a large number of 
these women have also begun to smuggle small amounts of 
narcotics.  END NOTE.) 
 
NEW DRUG DEMAND REDUCTION PROGRAM 
 
¶6. (SBU) The Turkmen Red Crescent Society's INL-funded Drug 
Demand Reduction (DDR) project began operations in Ashgabat 
in October 2008.  Together with the Ministry of Health and 
the Magtamguly Youth Center (a local NGO), it has launched 
several anti-drug campaigns, publishing pamphlets and other 
materials in both Turkmen and Russian, and organizes concerts 
and events.  The Red Crescent program now has instructors in 
all five Turkmen welayats (provinces), and uses a "peer 
educator" approach to teach young people about the dangers of 
 
ASHGABAT 00000188  002 OF 003 
 
 
drug use, as well as HIV and AIDS.  In general, most local 
observers say that the lack of treatment centers and modern 
treatment methods, low levels of public awareness, as well as 
Turkmenistan's high unemployment all contribute to a climbing 
rate of drug addiction.  Our police captain contact also 
noted the role of drug addiction in "a majority" of violent 
crimes being committed in the country, including robbery, 
murder and rape.  (NOTE:  Unlike some other Central Asian 
countries, Turkmenistan has no "drug harm" (i.e. needle 
exchange) reduction programs, as this, according to sources, 
would indicate that the problem is more widespread than the 
government would like to acknowledge.  END NOTE.) 
 
THE MOST SUSCEPTIBLE 
 
¶7. (SBU) According to the Red Crescent Society's DDR Project 
Coordinator, the most susceptible social group are people 
between the ages of 25 and 40 who reside in rural areas.  She 
noted that most addicts do not live past the age of 40, and 
usually succumb to overdose, infectious disease, murder or 
suicide.  Many in that group start experimenting with drugs 
during their teenage years, she said.  There are also some 
more elderly addicts, usually men in rural areas. 
 
AN ACCOMPANYING RISE IN PROSTITUTION 
 
¶8. (SBU) The police captain we spoke with said that most of 
the prostitutes in Ashgabat, who operate in hotel lobbies and 
night clubs, are drug addicts, and their numbers are 
increasing.  The same women arrested in those venues, who 
reportedly charge their (usually expat) clientele USD 100 per 
encounter, line up on Shevchenko Street in the center of 
town, where a gram of heroin reportedly sells for the 
equivalent of three dollars. 
 
¶9. (SBU) Local sources say that synthetic drugs, such as 
amphetamines and ecstasy, are not commonly known or used in 
the Turkmenistan.  They say that the production of synthetic 
drugs requires laboratory facilities, supplies and technical 
knowledge not easily available in this country.  Those 
ecstasy pills that do show up in night clubs occasionally are 
brought into the country by foreign tourists. 
 
MINIMAL TREATMENT OPTIONS 
 
¶10. (SBU) Medical personnel involved in the treatment of drug 
users confirm that nearly all drug addicts in Turkmenistan 
are addicted to heroin.  They say that treatment clinics are 
overcrowded, and call the conditions "unbearable." Drug 
addicts are presently treated in one of two major medical 
facilities in the country: In Ashgabat, at the "City Center 
for Treatment of Drug Abuse, Alcoholism and Psychiatric 
Diseases," and in Dashoguz, at the "Psycho-Narcotic Treatment 
Hospital," where addicts from all over the country are 
involuntarily admitted for treatment.  There are also 
treatment clinics run by the Ministry of Health in all five 
provinces. 
 
¶11. (SBU) According to the Red Crescent Society, addicts are 
normally committed to a treatment facility when family 
members, unable to tolerate the addict's behavior, contact 
the police and ask that their relative be committed. Because 
the treatment centers are so overcrowded, the families 
reportedly must resort to paying a bribe to gain a place in 
the facility.  The treatment centers reportedly lack 
qualified specialists or modern methods of treatment, and 
were described as more of a "jail" than a hospital.  Some are 
committed for as long as five years, and the rate of actual 
rehabilitation is reportedly very low.  Those who can afford 
it seek treatment in Russia or at-home care with a private 
physician. 
 
¶12. (SBU) COMMENT:  Turkmenistan's drug addiction problem is 
clearly more widespread and serious than the government cares 
to acknowledge.  Given the country's high unemployment, 
particularly in rural areas, and despite new drug demand 
reduction efforts in both U.S. and UN-funded programs, the 
 
ASHGABAT 00000188  003 OF 003 
 
 
situation appears likely to get worse before it improves. END 
COMMENT. 
MILES