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| Afghanistan |
| Another bumper poppy crop in Afghanistan in the offing |
| 2004-02-08 |
| Registration reqâd, edited for length As spring approaches, all is set for another bumper poppy crop in Afghanistan, already the worldâs largest opium producer with nearly three-quarters of the global opium production and catering to some 90 percent of Western Europeâs market demand. According to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), poppy production amounted to 3,600 tones in 2003 despite being banned officially by the Afghan government. Recent trends indicate poppy cultivation is spreading further into the countryâs remote areas. Around 1.7 million people, 7 percent of the population, are directly involved in poppy production. Poppy is only produced on approximately 1 percent (around 160,000 acres in 2003) of the total arable land in the country. The bulk of poppy production takes place on irrigated land. The trade is worth an estimated US $2.5bn annually, roughly as much as the combined international aid effort and equivalent to half of Afghanistanâs legitimate gross national product. On present trends, future crops may be even bigger, if not more lucrative. According to a September 15 from New York Universityâs Centre on International Cooperation, the amount of land devoted to poppy cultivation will probably increase in 83 districts and decline in fewer than 20 districts. Opium is now produced in 28 of Afghanistanâs 32 provinces, as compared to just 18 in 1999. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned that narcotics production is dominating Afghanistanâs economy. âA dangerous potential exists for Afghanistan to progressively slide into a ânarco-stateâ where all legitimate institutions become penetrated by the power and wealth of (drug) traffickers,â the Fund said in September. The British, who are supposed to play the lead role in dealing with drugs, have achieved little. Their programme to pay farmers to eradicate poppy fields has, unfortunately, led to increased poppy production. And the US military and coalition forces have maintained a hands-off policy, diligently avoiding involvement in battling narcotics. |
| Posted by:Paul Moloney |
| #18 I don't smoke much, but not much beats cigars and beer drinking a coupla' times a month. |
| Posted by: whitecollar redneck 2004-2-8 10:09:16 PM |
| #17 Well when I was in NAM I used to love hearing the words "light em up"...Mary Jane isn't as addictive as tobacco or alcohol, but that is for another time and forum I suppose. |
| Posted by: dataman1 2004-2-8 9:18:44 PM |
| #16 LOL! Everyone who is an exsmoker raise their hand.... now.. does anyone miss smoking? I do. I miss the easy conversation that came with the smoking ritual... Hell I miss the cheap rush... I'm glad I quit but I don't regret a single nail. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2004-2-8 5:12:20 PM |
| #15 Hey Bone Strangler, The Lone Ranger has a very valid point. -AR |
| Posted by: Analog Roam 2004-2-8 4:25:57 PM |
| #14 The Lone Ranger's right - our nation's drug policies are totally hypocritical. Both Alcohol and Tobacco are more addictive and damaging than marijuana, but look which one is illegal here. The policy of prohibition is doomed to always be a failure. Legal controls, taxation, education, and treatment for addicts are a much better option. |
| Posted by: Scooter McGruder 2004-2-8 2:43:43 PM |
| #13 OP, the jews have been around for a long time. Maybe they were responsible. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2004-2-8 2:35:46 PM |
| #12 IIRC, Marco Polo mentions opium being grown in the Far East (including the area now known as Afghanistan) when he returned from his extended stay in Cathay (China). It's not a new phenomenon, introduced by the United States, or the result of our actions in the area. Archeologists have found stone pipes, used to smoke tobacco, that are over 2000 years old. Yet our little microtroll tries to point the finger (the one in the middle) at the United States, which is "the sole cause of all the trouble in the world". No wonder Dean's in the toilet, with this kind of "support". |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2004-2-8 2:11:05 PM |
| #11 I believe that 3,600 tons of opium gum = 36 tons of heroin. |
| Posted by: Tancred 2004-2-8 12:52:51 PM |
| #10 So the moral equivalent of smoking a cigarette, has become having your waking hours dominated by the seach for your next score of heroin, crack, amphetamine or something to sniff. Some of this stuff is just evil. Even need for oxicondine, a legally prescribed drug, lead a local guy on a 20 store hold-up binge. It turns my stomache to see poor waifs in Moscow hanging out around the train station procuring small baggies of model glue to sniff. Glad to see the UN is helping out by measuring the crop size and thereby the performance of individuals who care enough to actually do something to help people. I guess it would do no good to point out to the cigarette nazi that we have never interrupted the trade in coffee, rum, khat chocolate and tea that vary in addictive capacity but are produced from crops grown developing nations. Tobacco is now grown heavily in Africa as well. They need any export dollars thay can get. I am a reformed user of Copenhagen which I recommend to no one. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2004-2-8 12:50:22 PM |
| #9 tobacco = red man's revenge |
| Posted by: .com 2004-2-8 10:18:40 AM |
| #8 But all those happy, one-with-nature Native Americans showed us the joys of tobacco. Smoking can't possibly be bad for anyone. |
| Posted by: whitecollar redneck 2004-2-8 9:27:10 AM |
| #7 Yeah I quit smoking 3 years ago on doctors orders.... asked him if I would live longer. Doctors said it was hard to say... but it would definitely seem longer. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2004-2-8 7:35:33 AM |
| #6 Lucky, a few years ago the oldest man in Canada smoked a pack a day for nearly a hundred years, and was still alive at 115. And here is a link to a 122 yo chain smoker - http://www.tobacco.org/news/141034.html Go figure! |
| Posted by: phil_b 2004-2-8 7:28:58 AM |
| #5 With Washington going to Kerry, methinks this is just another Deanie baby losing his cookies. I think Robert Crawford should give a name / acronym to the phenomenon, since he brought it to our attention. Mebbe we should run a contest - and RC picks the winner. |
| Posted by: .com 2004-2-8 2:50:25 AM |
| #4 My Dad died of a heart attack due to nicotine. He was 68. And that's way to young! I've known some to live well into their 80s and 90s. Lone Ranger takes the high road. Pathetic hypocrisy and shame. Yes deep shame. BTW I've never made a dime off of tabacco and that's why I'm not a millionair. Oh and this country doesn't promote a deadly drug culture. It promotes cheesy sex and moronic sports. USC #1 quack, quack, quack! |
| Posted by: Lucky 2004-2-8 2:05:40 AM |
| #3 Yawn. A Splodeytroll |
| Posted by: Bone Stranger 2004-2-8 1:41:11 AM |
| #2 Hmmm. The US subsidizes US tobacco farmers, and happily supports export of American cigarettes ("nicotine delivery systems") to every country in the world. Nicotine is one of the more potent poisons - it makes opium or heroin look like tofu. But - I guess US drugs killing millions of people are OK, becaues they are America's "traditional crop". But - we can go after tradional crops like coca plants and opium poppies elsewhere. Pathetic hypocrisy. I guess we'll never see a US President spirited off in chains (ala Manueal Noreiga), and then tried, convicted and locked up somewhere (Bhutan?) as leader of a country that promotes a deadly drug culture. Too bad. |
| Posted by: Lone Ranger 2004-2-8 12:24:37 AM |
| #1 say: "bumper poppy crop" 3 times, fast |
| Posted by: Frank G 2004-2-8 12:17:27 AM |