Cocaine, heroin cheaper than ever in Europe: report

[DoYouEverWonder]

Nov 23, 2006

LISBON (Reuters) - Illegal drugs may be cheaper than ever before in Europe, with prices of heroin slumping 45 percent and cocaine down 22 percent over five years, according to the first Europe-wide report of its kind on drug prices.

The steep fall in heroin prices in 1999-2004 came as drug production in Afghanistan surged so much after the fall of the Taliban that supply could now be exceeding global demand for heroin, threatening to spur more drug use.

Afghanistan accounts for about 90 percent of world production of opium - the raw material for heroin - and its production has soared since a U.S.-led invasion ousted the government of the Islamist Taliban in 2001.
NATO troops are currently battling a Taliban insurgency, which has been fueled by the drugs trade.

"Afghanistan is the key player in global heroin production and developments in the country have the potential to impact on the kind of drug problem we will face in Europe in the future," said Wolfgang Gotz, head of the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA), in a statement.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061123/hl_nm/cocaine_heroin_dc

BushCo must be cutting prices and upping production so they can keep fueling all their assorted wars and covert ops.

[mithnanthy]

1. DoYouEverWonder...

Yes, I "Wondered" the same thing! Ha!

[Deja Q]

2. So much for the war on drugs.

If we invade yet somebody manages to find the time to grow even more crops, somebody ain't doin' their job...

[madrchsod]

3. i was reading a hashish forum several months ago

(yes there is a hashish message board in europe) that had an alert about opium laced hashish.seems the production was never stopped but was warehoused. the drug lords were mixing overflow into hashish and selling to unsuspecting hash users thus addicting them to hashish/opium. i witnessed the heroin scourge in the 60`s and if history repeats itself it`s going to be really bad here in the usa.

[spillthebeans]

4. I hope they are not using some kind of " Air America" Vietnam-style

delivery system.

[reichstag911]

5. In other news,...

...George W. Bush has discussed with family the possibility of moving to Europe after his removal from office. One obstacle to his plan, though, will no doubt be his status as a wanted war criminal.

[spillthebeans]

8. I think he prefers South America like all previous war criminals

http://www.wonkette.com/politics/george-w.-bush/we-hate-to-bring-up-the-nazis-but-they-fled-to-south-america-too-208549.php

The Cuban news service reports that George W. Bush has purchased 98,840 acres in Paraguay, near the Bolivian/Brazilian border.

[reichstag911]

15. I knew about the Paraguay purchase,...

...but I was just makin' a funny about GW going where the cheap coke is. :eyes:

[colorado_ufo]

20. Terrific link, containing more terrific links.

For extraordinary renditions? For refuge? As a new military strategic base? Drugs? Possibly a new center of operations for the PNAC? Free trade center, private owned?

Limitless possibilities, given the setup with immunity to international prosecution.

[bullimiami]

6. and who has their big noses stuck all in columbia, the andes, afghanistan

and wherever quality drugs are grown?


U.S.A.

[DoYouEverWonder]

10. Funny the twins are spending so much time down in SA

Didn't Jenna get caught with a coke dealer in NYC?

NYC - SA is a major drug route.

[pitohui]

17. there are only 7 continents and one of them is antarctica

i don't think jenna or not-jenna would have to go to south america to get all the drugs they could ever want

i think they want to get away from the trashy north american media machine and who can blame them

i wouldn't automatically assume every or even a very large minority of travelers to south america have any interest in drugs or drug tourism

[DoYouEverWonder]

18. We can always depend on you

to support BushCo.

[lcordero2]

7. kick n/t

[KansDem]

9. So their strategy is revealed: Keep cost of oil up and heroin down...

Didn't Bush and Co. allow opium farming to resume after US attack on Afghanistan?

As I recall correctly, Bush "overthrew" the Taliban, who prohibited opium growing, and gave the okie-dokie to resume opium farming again.

I often wondered why; now I know...

[BlueIris]

11. Woo hoo! Time to pack for EUROPE.

Gotta go, all. My coke bill from this month was outrageous.

[DoYouEverWonder]

12. But the exchange rate

for the US dollar sucks.

[BlueIris]

13. Oh, that's right.

I forgot about that. Goddamn it.

[Vidar]

14. Another victory in the War on Terror.

[JVS]

16. I predict a lot of happy summer abroad experiences for the college set this year!

[happydreams]

19. A phenomenal book on the international drug trade:

"The Politics of Heroin: CIA complicity in the Global Drug Trade" by Alfred McCoy.

McCoy is an unsung hero. He digs into a topic like few others and really lays it out in detail. His work should be required reading for college kids studying politics.

[spillthebeans]

21. I suspect it's more coca in this case

http://www.powderburns.org/