In Afghan fields poppies grow (Overview)
The US State Department's International Narcotics Control Strategy Report says that Afghanistan "represents an enormous threat to world stability". It has now become the world's largest opium producer.
Ever since the Soviets invaded the country 1979, narcotics have grown in importance representing now anywhere between 40 to 60 per cent of the national economy.
Profits from narco-trafficking are financing the Talibans and terrorists and could turn the country into a narco-state.
The country itself is ideally suited for growing opium poppy, the main ingredient for heroin and morphine.
According to the US report the area in Afghanistan devoted to poppy cultivation last year set a record of more than 510,000 acres, more than triple the figure for 2003, and almost 26 times that for 2001
The report listed opium production at 5,445 tons, 17 times more than second-place Myanmar, representing 60 per cent of GDP.
About 90 per cent of processed Afghan opium (29-30 tonnes) takes the northern route through Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Russia and then Europe.
This year the United Kingdom will spend US$ 100 million on the war on drugs in Afghanistan, double from last year. The United States is spending US$ 780 million for the same purpose.
However, this war cannot succeed if the country is not made more secure, if the rule of law is not applied and if there are no viable alternatives to opium poppy growing.
For about 2.3 million Afghan farmers growing the opium poppy means in fact making ten times more money than they would cultivating legal crops.
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27/06/2019 15:41
