Afghanistan's Drug Problem

[Lewis341]

Whenever surplus possibilities are current, drug dealers will have enticements to bring forth the supply to satisfy purchaser's desires. The finer the excesses are to be rated, the finer, the rewards and the finer the supply of drug selections approach over time.

[davidbfpo]

Ryan Evans has another paper on wider, related matters in CTC's Sentinel:http://www.ctc.usma.edu/posts/the-mi...lmand-province

I noted two linked passages, my emphasis added:

Helmand has been the largest poppy-producing province in Afghanistan by a considerable margin. With the eradication program in Helmand wiping out only three percent of the yearly crop, at the cost of alienating struggling farmers whose meager poppy profits barely get them and their families through the year, the utility of this counternarcotics program is questionable at best

Nothing startling I fear:

In Helmand, there is a “Gray Nexus” among the Afghan government, narcotics cartels, the insurgency, and the population based on a common interest in poppy cultivation, processing, and trafficking. The insurgency serves as a protection and transportation racket for the cartels. It also plays a role in surging migrant farmers to help with the harvest in the spring and, in some areas, the insurgents offer farmers protection against eradication efforts. Poppy cultivation and narcotics trafficking represent the most important source of revenue for the Taliban in southern Afghanistan.[40] Government officials profit by allowing and facilitating trafficking. It is not uncommon for government officials in Helmand to be more directly involved in cultivation, processing, trafficking and facilitation. Poppy profits, which are modest for farmers, provide enough cash for a family to meet its costs of living. These profits also serve as a form of insurance for family illnesses, failed crops, drought, and any needed repairs.

[davidbfpo]

An article from Foreign Affairs, with a rather startling suggestion - copying Iran's way - as Afghanistan's drug addiction problem worsens:http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articl...rugs?page=show

It opens with:

...the narcotics trade presents one of the gravest threats to the country’s long-term stability and security.... Afghanistan remains the world’s largest supplier of heroin and other illegal opiates.

In NATO countries alone, Afghan narcotics cause more than 10,000 heroin-overdose deaths per year -- making them far deadlier than the munitions that have claimed the lives of approximately 3,200 coalition personnel since the start of the war.

[davidbfpo]

Opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan has been increasing for a third year in a row and is heading for a record high, the U.N. said in a report released Monday. The boom in poppy cultivation is at its most pronounced in the Taliban's heartland in the south...

Increased production has been driven by unusually high opium prices, but more cultivation of Afghanistan's premier cash crop is also an indication that Afghans are turning to illicit markets and crops as the real economy shrinks ahead of the expected withdrawal of foreign combat troops at the end of 2014.

Link to Yahoo summary:http://news.yahoo.com/un-afghan-opiu...081638728.html

Link to UNODC report:http://www.unodc.org/documents/crop-...13_phase12.pdf