HELMAND PROVINCE, Afghanistan — Jaan Agha, 19, said he only had two choices: join the Taliban or watch his family starve.

"I couldn't find a job anywhere," he said. "So I had to join the Taliban. They give me money for my family expenditures. If I left the Taliban, what else would I do?"

In the southern province of Helmand, the drug industry or the Taliban seem to be the only career choices available to young men, many of whom have little or no formal education.

With an unemployment rate estimated at 50 percent, the booming drug trade or the continuing insurgency are seen as the only viable ways for thousands of young people to earn a living.

While the Taliban do not offer a fixed pay scale, those who join the insurgents at least have their basic expenses covered, including food, clothing and health care.

Many see it as their only choice.

Mahmud, 22, from the provincial capital of Lashkar Gah, who like many Afghans uses only one name, said he joined the Taliban when he could find no other source of income.

"I fought for the Taliban for two years because I had no other job," he said.

He said he was able to save enough money while fighting with the Taliban to eventually start his own business. He now buys goods in the capital and sells them at markets in nearby villages.

"Now that I have work, I am not with the Taliban any more," he said.

The unemployment problem is especially acute for young men hoping to get married. In Afghanistan, a bridegroom is expected to present a large sum of cash to his prospective bride's family.

And because the province is awash with cash produced by the booming drug trade — half of the world's opium is produced in this province alone — it can cost up to $20,000 to arrange a wedding.

Torjan, 28, said he tried everything to raise enough money so he could marry his girlfriend.

"I was engaged for eight years," he said. "Then my girlfriend's father doubled the price we had agreed on. I joined the Afghan National Army to try and earn enough money but then I began to receive death threats from the Taliban. So then I joined them."

But even working with the Taliban didn't earn him enough money to afford a wedding. So he turned to what he saw as his only remaining option.

"I have decided to start smuggling drugs," he said.

In addition to providing a ready pool of drug smugglers or insurgents, the lack of work also is blamed for the soaring number of youthful drug addicts in the province.

There are estimated to be about 75,000 drug addicts in Helmand province, according to Rahmatullah Mohammadi, the head of the Mohammadi Nijat hospital, a treatment facility in Lashkar Gah.

More than half of them are between the ages of 15 and 25.

The Mohammadi Nijat facility has 20 beds available for addicts. Patients are required to pay a $200 fee for treatment.

The lack of educational opportunities in the province have made it difficult for young people to acquire the skills needed to be something other than an insurgent or drug smuggler.

Earlier this year, an estimated 300 high school graduates took the stand-ardized entrance exam to gain placement in one of the country's universities. Not one student passed the exam.

While some complain about the low level of education in the province, some of those who failed the test feel they're being discriminated against.

One young man, who asked that his name not be used out of concern for his security, said he'd taken the test twice but still failed to gain admission to a university.

"In Helmand, one can get into higher education only by having a lot of money or by knowing high-ranking government officials," he said. "And I have neither."

Jean Mackenzie is The Institute for War & Peace Reporting's program director in Afghanistan. This article was distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.