What is the fair market value to an Afghan farmer for an acre of his poppy crop? What would it cost to buy the crop at fair market value from the farmer and torch it on the spot/on the vine as they say? Why would the farmer care whether or not addicts get their dope? Why would he care if the middle men don't get to step on the product to pay off their patrons in the upper levels of the food chain? How many hectares are there anyway? To cut out the middle men and their nefarious economic contributions to narco-terrorism and corrupt politicians would leave the middle men no choice but to coerece the farmers back into growing the stuff. The logical choice would be to impliment payment for non production, sort of like the old Soil Bank program in the US years ago. That way the taliban and dealers would essentially have to coerce people into working when they are being paid not to work. Who then would the farmers align themselves with? What's the cost of dealing with the crimes associated with addiction, treatment and prevention and narco terrorism? How much LE budget allocation is sucked up by heroin/opium problems alone? I certainly don't pretend this is going to solve the world's opiate addiction problem but it certainly would help would take a huge hunk out of the taliban's coffers.