Opium in Afghanistan: A new high

[unhappycamper]

http://www.economist.com/news/asia/21656705-new-high



A new high
Jul 4th 2015

As violence surges in Afghanistan, so too does the country’s opium business. Last year was the deadliest year ever for non-combatants, with nearly 3,700 killed. In its latest World Drug Report, the UN says it was also a record year for the area of farmland used to grow opium: 224,000 hectares, which produced 85% of the world’s opium and 77% of its heroin. When cocaine production was at its peak in Colombia in the 1980s, drugs produced 6% of that country’s income. In Afghanistan, they generate at least 15%.

The business thrives on the lawlessness of conflict, which has escalated in Afghanistan along with the withdrawal of a large part of the American-led international forces. Large-scale poppy-growers often use their connections to keep prying officials at bay. Eradication efforts thus mainly target poorer farmers. That risks making the violence worse. Desperate farmers stripped of their livelihoods may turn to the Taliban.