Article

2006-08-24 Afghanistan

KABUL - Seventy-eight percent more land in Afghanistan has been planted with opium poppies this year than last, according to the latest satellite images, a Western security official said Wednesday.

In what would be a new record, a first assessment of the images showed 185,000 hectares (456,950 acres) of poppy fields compared to 104,000 hectares in 2005, the official said on condition of anonymity. Official figures are due to be released next month and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) would not comment before then. The figures are based on satellite images and ground surveys.

The same Western official said last week that initial studies had suggested a 44 percent increase in poppy cultivation, a figure also cited in media reports. According to the provisional figures, we should have 40 percent more production, the official said.

In 2005 output reached 39 kg per hectare compared to 32 kg a year earlier, according to UN figures. The country produced about 4,100 tonnes of opium last year, according to the UNODC. The crop was estimated to be worth 2.7 billion dollars. It takes about 10 kg of opium to make one kg of heroin.

Posted by Steve White 2006-08-24 00:00|| || Front Page|| [11134 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 Glad to see free markets at work. Now will someone please change the laws so that this is legal? Thank you.

Posted by Iblis">Iblis 2006-08-24 02:24|| 2006-08-24 02:24|| Front Page Top

#2 Legalizing would reduce the uniyt price but also increase demand and thus opium cultivation (with greater total revenue for the opim traders)

The real solution is shooting the people who use opium or derivatives. This will have the prices crumble and opium cultivation stop.

Market forces at work.

Posted by JFM">JFM 2006-08-24 04:05|| 2006-08-24 04:05|| Front Page Top

#3 JFM that works in China.

Posted by Sock Puppet of Doom 2006-08-24 04:35|| www.sockpuppetofdoom.com]">[www.sockpuppetofdoom.com] 2006-08-24 04:35|| Front Page Top

#4 Agent orange.

Posted by wxjames 2006-08-24 11:50|| 2006-08-24 11:50|| Front Page Top

#5 #3: JFM that works in China.

Must not work, there are still people being executed, so where do the "New" smuggler/users come from if it's so "Effective"

Posted by Redneck Jim 2006-08-24 19:08|| 2006-08-24 19:08|| Front Page Top

#6 Very effective. Keeps the Chinese prison population down and the organ-supply up.

Posted by Fordesque 2006-08-24 22:04|| 2006-08-24 22:04|| Front Page Top

01:46 Grom the Affective
01:33 Besoeker
01:22 Besoeker
00:59 Besoeker
00:48 Besoeker
00:40 Frank G