Afghanistan may give Colombia a run for its money

[Hey Bubu]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4022197.stm

UN warns of Afghan 'drug state'

Afghanistan produces 87% of world opium, the UN says
The UN has warned that Afghanistan could become a "narco-state" after opium cultivation rose by two-thirds this year.

A UN report released on Thursday urged the US and Nato forces to fight drugs as well as Taleban insurgents.

It said Afghanistan now supplied 87% of world opium. In 2003, the trade was worth $2.8bn, representing more than 60% of gross domestic product.

One in 10 Afghans are now estimated to be involved in the business.

The UN said it would be an "historical error" to abandon the nation to opium.

'No silver bullet'

The UN Afghanistan Opium Survey 2004 said the drug was now the "main engine of economic growth and the strongest bond among previously quarrelsome peoples".


It said opium cultivation had increased by 64% compared to 2003.



Solution to Afghan opium?

Antonio Maria Costa, executive director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, said the report was a wake-up call to the world.

Mr Costa said the Afghan government was too weak to tackle the problem alone.

He called on US and Nato-led forces to carry out military operations against drug traffickers.

"In Afghanistan, drugs are now a clear and present danger," Mr Costa said.

"The fear that Afghanistan might degenerate into a narco-state is becoming a reality."

He said there was "no silver bullet" with which to tackle the problem.

"The opium economy in Afghanistan has to be dismantled with democracy, the rule of law and economic improvement - it will be a long and difficult process," Mr Costa said.

The UN report said opium production in 2004 was close to the peak of 4,600 tons in 1999, a year before the Taleban banned new cultivation.

The BBC's Roland Buerk in Kabul says it is easy to see why 2.3m people - a tenth of the population - is involved in opium, when a farmer can earn more than 10 times as much growing poppies than cultivating wheat.

US prosecutions

The report came as the US announced a major new offensive against drug production in Afghanistan.

Washington expects to spend an extra $780m in the next financial year on measures including the eradication of poppies and alternatives for farmers.

US officials describe the new plan as a full-board commitment to support the new Afghan government in its battle against the growing drugs trade.

A senior Western diplomat in Kabul also told the BBC there were plans to take some of the largest drugs barons to the United States to prosecute them there.

Robert Charles, assistant secretary of state for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement, described poppy cultivation as a primary, if not the primary, concern for the country.

Aggressive eradication would be backed up, Mr Charles said, by a public information campaign, better law enforcement and, perhaps most crucially, real alternatives for farmers.

"You don't go in and eradicate in an area without making provision... for a marked up or added alternative development resources, or alternative livelihoods," he said.

Given the choice of two evils: a Narco-state or a theocracy - which is preferrable?

[question]

Here's the solution to Afghanistans opium problem:

Stop getting the opium used to make morphine and other opiates from Turkey and India (I believe those are the only two countries with legal opium production), and bolster Afghanistans and other poor opium producing countries economy by puchasing opium to make morphine and the other opiates from ALL opium producing countries. Buy so much of it that there isnt' any left to make heroin!

Jesus, it's not that difficult, and everyone wins!

[question]

Opium is used to produce morphine, codeine and a myriad of other drugs. They can easily legalize Afghanistans opium production by purchasing it to make those products.

Originally Posted by xiannaix

Given the choice of two evils: a Narco-state or a theocracy - which is preferrable?

Originally Posted by question

Opium is used to produce morphine, codeine and a myriad of other drugs. They can easily legalize Afghanistans opium production by purchasing it to make those products.

bam! Pretty sound suggestion.

Originally Posted by E-brake

If they dont have a better way for the people there to make money then they can forget about ending the opium trade.

The farmers have a choice, starve to death slowly, or grow some flowers that are worth more than if they were growing acual money and risk being killed by Americans for being in the drug trade. With choices like that its no wonder that their entire economy is propelled by drugs.

Im just waiting for the Heroin overdoses to sweep the nation again. Last time there was a surge in opium production they had 4 or 5 overose deaths in Plano alone, 99-2000ish. If it takes about 6 months for it to get processed and get overseas and we are about to hit harvest season, we will see it hitting the streets locally next summer. With the high quanities that is being produced eroin will be cheaper than ciggerettes. Should be interesting to see how they plan on cleaning up that mess when all the middle class white kids start dropping dead again.

Heroin in the states comes mostly from Mexico and SA. Ever seen powdered heroin (Asian)? Its almost entirely tar (Western Hemisphere).

Originally Posted by E-brake

Afganistan produces more Opium than the worlds medical needs for legitimate morphine use. Also that would mean that the drug companies stateside would have to give up their lucrative contracts to grow the plants themselves. No way would this administration take a lucrative money making job away from drug companies, they donate way to much money to both political parties.

codeine is cheap - are you sure the contracts are that lucrative?

[Funkenstein]

Originally Posted by E-brake

. . .Should be interesting to see how they plan on cleaning up that mess when all the middle class white kids start dropping dead again.

Kevin, you are the king of A & P LOLlies, I swear.

Originally Posted by E-brake

I have only seen two types powdered and little black round grains, but its not like Im around drugs on a regular basis those were just passing moments over the years. I guess that means that Europe and the former Soviet States are fucked but the Us wont realy be hit that hard. No wonder the administration doesnt give a shit.

well - the US is the primary concern of the US government - yes

If Russia wants to do anything to erradicate the flow of heroin into its borders it would.... but that country is run by gangsters with official titles and diplomatic immunity.

Originally Posted by E-brake

Im sure that anything that a drug company makes is lucrative. They work on very high margins to offset the cost of developing new drugs. If i have time later I will look a little more into it.

Drugs companies do produce some products at loss. Not sure if this is one, was told it is, but just as an example, the vaccine for bubonic plague - very low demand - not cheap to make....

Originally Posted by E-brake

Governments generally subsidize products in that category around the world. They say that low government subsidies on the flu vaccine is the reason that we don’t have enough right now, if they had a higher subsidy there would be more than just two suppliers for the entire world.

good stuff - ty for the info

[question]

There's still hydromorphine (diluadid), meperidine (Demerol), percodan, methadone, darvon.

Originally Posted by E-brake

In the brief amount of time I spent on google, its pretty apearant that real "morphine" is not as widely used anymore because it is cheaper to synthisize the drug in a lab. Looks like most opiates used in American medicine, including codine come from chemical plants, not farmers.

Originally Posted by question

There's still hydromorphine (diluadid), meperidine (Demerol), percodan, methadone, darvon.

methadone is synthetic isn't it?

Originally Posted by E-brake

All of those you listed are synthetic narcotics. They can all be produced from Opium plants, but it is cheaper to produce them in a lab.

I found it interesting that the Bush administration thinks Methadone is safe because its synthetic, ignoring the fact that the companies that produce the drug say that its highly adictive. http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/...sht/methadone/

That policy page indicates that methadone is addictive.... it asserts that it is a perferable trade-off in so far as the risks are less, the costs are lower and it gets the addict back on track to lead a "normal" life.

[question]

Supposidly pot has more carcenogens than tobacco.

Originally Posted by E-brake

So much for my skimming of the page. I was just astonished to find a page on the white house site advicating the use of Methadone from the same administration that wont let a terminally ill cancer patient smoke a joint. Seems kinda silly to me.