KHUJAND, January 27, 2012, Asia-Plus  -- 93 drug-dependent persons were registered in the northern Sughd province last year, which 29 percent more than in 2010, according to the Drug Control Agency (DCA)’s office in Sughd province.

There are currently 1,038 officially registered drug-dependent persons in the province, including 976 men and 62 women.

231 of the officially registered drug-dependent persons in the area, or 22.3 percent, are people aged 18 to 30; 779, or 75 percent, are people aged 31 to 59; and 28, or 2.7 percent, are people over 60.

The majority of the officially registered drug dependent persons in Sughd are the injecting drug users (IDUs) – 795 people, or 76.5 percent.

The highest increase in the number of drug-dependent persons has been registered in the Spitamen district and the city of Khujand – 17 and 14 percent respectively, the source added.