Afghan opium cultivation set to double.

Former Member

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/5308180.stm

From the beeb; afghan opium cultivation is set to double over the next year, and the interesting thing is that the Taliban controlled areas are now the prime centers of production.

Prior to the Afghan war the Taliban were reasonably successful at supressing or keeping a lid on things. So much for a coherent foreign policy; between the DEA and the CIA they might as well declare war on each other.

Former Member

the uk has been the main controller of the worlds opium supply for over three hundred years so what do you expect?
the taliban is the only ever sucsess story in the phoney war on drugs.
now we are back there ...opium is already at record levels ...and set to double.
narco dollars ammount to many billions ...the us and the uk won't be giving those billions up any time soon.

Former Member

exactly think how many people in afghanistan farm those fields, earn money and spend it in local shops and trade locally (the multiplier effect) if you pull the plug on opium production then the afghan economy would totally collapse then the UK and US would have to float the whole of afghanistan (unaffordable) both countries are already in huge amounts of debt.
so opium production will never be completely stamped out unless a huge new industry is found for afghan farmers, i can't think of any that would actually work.

Former Member

Just another fuck up in our long running drug war, nothing surprising really, its either done on purpose or our leaders are even more stupid than we realise.

Former Member

They should try salting the earth...but that would fuck up all agriculture...still, im sure politicians will make it work with spin eh?

Jaded

There was an interesting suggestion made (by a think tank?) recently, which would involve the alteration of EU law to allow it, but..

There is a worldwide shortage of medical grade morphine, so the suggestion was to buy poppy crops directly from farmers, paying a fair market price for them and voila, suddenly there is no shortage of morphine, the black market looses a source and the farmers have a legitimate income. Obviously not as straightforward as that, but perhaps a step in the right direction...

Former Member

there was a case a little while ago whereby a cancer patient was not able to receive the appropriate painkilling drugs (Diamorphine) during her final days. Her children were forced to endure the experience of their mother screaming in agony for want of this treatment.

I will endeavour to find the link to this story, but its nothing less than a fucking scandal.

Former Member

LadyJade wrote:

There was an interesting suggestion made (by a think tank?) recently, which would involve the alteration of EU law to allow it, but..

There is a worldwide shortage of medical grade morphine, so the suggestion was to buy poppy crops directly from farmers, paying a fair market price for them and voila, suddenly there is no shortage of morphine, the black market looses a source and the farmers have a legitimate income. Obviously not as straightforward as that, but perhaps a step in the right direction...

Withouth also dealing with our black market demand this move would do little to help the over all situation.

Former Member

Martin_Bashir wrote:

there was a case a little while ago whereby a cancer patient was not able to receive the appropriate painkilling drugs (Diamorphine) during her final days. Her children were forced to endure the experience of their mother screaming in agony for want of this treatment.

I will endeavour to find the link to this story, but its nothing less than a fucking scandal.

Why not give her fentanyl, hell you could even give her N2O, I've seen studdies suggesting it shoould be used to reduce the amount of hard pain killers people have to use.

Former Member

the only thing effective for this particular patient was Diamorphine; bottom line a patient needing a common treatment was not able to get it.

Former Member

LadyJade wrote:

There was an interesting suggestion made (by a think tank?) recently, which would involve the alteration of EU law to allow it, but..

There is a worldwide shortage of medical grade morphine, so the suggestion was to buy poppy crops directly from farmers, paying a fair market price for them and voila, suddenly there is no shortage of morphine, the black market looses a source and the farmers have a legitimate income... perhaps a step in the right direction...

Indeed. There's no way to stop it anyway, so why not focus on improving a medicinal casue?

Former Member

ricdiculous wrote:

so opium production will never be completely stamped out unless a huge new industry is found for afghan farmers, i can't think of any that would actually work.

i can ...lessen the opium crop by growing more afghani black ...lovely stuff.

Former Member

morrocan roll wrote:

i can ...lessen the opium crop by growing more afghani black ...lovely stuff.

The profit margin isnt as good and cannabis isnt as drought resistant as opium popies.

Former Member

budda wrote:

The profit margin isnt as good and cannabis isnt as drought resistant as opium popies.

but they have managed to grow the stuff to a very high degree of quality for thousands of years ...
and it is far more profitable than peaches.

Former Member

Martin_Bashir wrote:

Prior to the Afghan war the Taliban were reasonably successful at supressing or keeping a lid on things.

Thats the biggest joke, now we have the Taliban who need lots of money and are using the opium trade to get it.

The only reason we dont have a big uprising in the north is we are paying the warlords to keep the peace for us. Which is lovely really, they are almost as nasty as the Taliban they just happen not to be Islamic.

Former Member

morrocan roll wrote:

but they have managed to grow the stuff to a very high degree of quality for thousands of years ...
and it is far more profitable than peaches.

i forgot to add ...the cannabis industry through the sixties and seventies was bigger than opium ...so it can be again.
afghani black was available as easily as todays soap bar back then ...and could be again.

Former Member

morrocan roll wrote:

but they have managed to grow the stuff to a very high degree of quality for thousands of years ...
and it is far more profitable than peaches.

Of course, and if the trade was legal here (in cannabis that is not opium) it could go some way to reducing the opium trade there.

But it wouldnt be a total solution, the only way to totally stop it is get rid of the demand and the abject poverty in Afghanistan.