Opium Production Up in Afghanistan

[Moloch]

WASHINGTON — An alarming uptick in poppy production has Afghan and international officials worried about the impact the opium trade will have on the emerging democracy, but all sides agree that interdiction efforts must be led by the Afghans themselves.

While President Hamid Karzai was inaugurated Tuesday with great fanfare, a U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime (search) report released last month shows that poppy cultivation in Afghanistan (search) was up 64 percent from 2003 to 2004. The percent of agricultural land used for poppy cultivation has risen from 1.6 percent to 2.9 percent during that time, or 51,000 hectares to 131,000 hectares. While the price per kilogram has dropped 67 percent during that period, all 32 provinces in the country and a record number of farmers are involved in some form of opium cultivation.

"The situation is getting out of hand," said Mahmood Karzai, brother of the new president. Karzai lives in the United States and travels frequently to his home country as head of the Afghan-American Chamber of Commerce (search). "The United States wants to take care of the problem. I think it is a good thing to do, but it’s important that in taking care of the problem, part of the solution is resolving the Afghan economy as a whole."

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,140822,00.html

[Swamp Rat]

1. Cheney's success story in Afghanistan

[davhill]

2. Deal with the Devil

In order to oust the anti-drug Talaban we allied ourselves with the country's drug lords. Now it will come back to haunt us as the street price of heroin drops.

[da_chimperor]

3. Great, now I can start up that opium den i've been saving up for.

:crazy:

[NNN0LHI]

4. Mission Accomplished! n/t

[livinbella]

5. between 50 and 60 bucks a gram

never thought you'd see those prices again, did you?

[NNN0LHI]

7. Never thought I would see so many users dying from overdoses lately

They are not used to the good stuff here in the midwest. They have been dying before they can get the needle out of their arms.

Don

[ilovenicepeople]

6. There was an article in my local paper,a chamber of commerce member

went over to Afganistan a couple weeks ago.In the article it mentions that the Taliban were producing the opium and since OPERATION POPPIES AND PIPELINES the Americans had slowed down opium production.WHAT A CROCK OF DOO DOO!!!

[VegasWolf]

8. I read an article that says you can buy herion in London cheaper

than beer. A line of coke is less than a buck.

[struggle4progress]

9. The Ownership Society Shows Respect to Its Masters. eom