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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2009
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Afghanistan Supplies 93% of World's Opiates

Poppy crop jumps 34% over last year

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(Newser) – Afghanistan's opium production has soared over the last year and the country now supplies 93% of the world's opiates. Most of the poppies are grown along the country's southern border with Pakistan, where the insurgency is strong, security is weak, and the Taliban continues to use its drug profits to buy guns and keep itself running, reports the BBC.

Government corruption is considered a major factor in perpetuating the drug trade, but it's also alluring as one of the few routes to wealth in a desperately poor country, according to a report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. "Leaving aside 19th Century China, no country in the world has ever produced narcotics on such a deadly scale," the report states

An Afghan National Army soldier is seen destroying the opium poppies in a field, during a poppy eradication campaign in Nangarhar province, east of Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, April. 2, 2007. Afghanistan is the top producer of heroin in the world. (AP Photo/Rahamt Gul)
An Afghan National Army soldier is seen destroying the opium poppies in a field, during a poppy eradication campaign in Nangarhar province, east of Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, April. 2, 2007. Afghanistan...   (Associated Press)
An Afghan points to the resin from poppy on a poppy field in Lashkar Gah, the provincial capital of Helmand province, south of Kabul, Afghanistan on Monday, April 9, 2007. Afghanistan is one of top producers of opium in the world. (AP Photo/Abdul Khaliq)
An Afghan points to the resin from poppy on a poppy field in Lashkar Gah, the provincial capital of Helmand province, south of Kabul, Afghanistan on Monday, April 9, 2007. Afghanistan is one of top producers...   (Associated Press)
An Afghan farmer collects resin from poppies on a opium poppy field in Bati Kot district of Nangarhar province, east of Kabul, Afghanistan, on Tuesday, April 24, 2007. U.N. figures to be released in September 2007 are expected to show a 15 percent rise in Afghanistan's poppy production over...
An Afghan farmer collects resin from poppies on a opium poppy field in Bati Kot district of Nangarhar province, east of Kabul, Afghanistan, on Tuesday, April 24, 2007. U.N. figures to be released in September...   (Associated Press)
An Afghan boy looks on as a poppy flower is in full bloom in poppy fields in the Rhodat district of Nangarhar province, east of Kabul, Afghanistan, on April 11, 2007. Afghanistan produced dramatically more opium in 2006, increasing its yield by roughly 49 percent from a year earlier and...
An Afghan boy looks on as a poppy flower is in full bloom in poppy fields in the Rhodat district of Nangarhar province, east of Kabul, Afghanistan, on April 11, 2007. Afghanistan produced dramatically...   (Associated Press)
An Afghan police officer stands guard in poppy fields during a poppy eradication campaign in the Rhodat district of Nangarhar province, east of Kabul, Afghanistan, on April 11, 2007. Afghanistan produced dramatically more opium in 2006, increasing its yield by roughly 49 percent from a year earlier and pushing global...
An Afghan police officer stands guard in poppy fields during a poppy eradication campaign in the Rhodat district of Nangarhar province, east of Kabul, Afghanistan, on April 11, 2007. Afghanistan produced...   (Associated Press)
Poppies
Poppies   (Associated Press)
A British soldier of Second Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, patrols near Poppy filed in Sangin , a district Helmand province, Afghanistan, Sunday, April . 22, 2007. NATO and Afghan troops launched their largest-ever offensive last month in southern Afghanistan to flush out Taliban militants from the northern tip of opium-producing Helmand province....
A British soldier of Second Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, patrols near Poppy filed in Sangin , a district Helmand province, Afghanistan, Sunday, April . 22, 2007. NATO and Afghan troops launched their...   (Associated Press)
An Afghan villager employed as an opium poppy destroyer, right, is seen during a poppy eradication campaign in the Rhodat district of Nangarhar province, east of Kabul, Afghanistan, Wednesday, April 11, 2007. Afghanistan is the top producer of heroin in the world. (AP Photo/Musadeq Sadeq)
An Afghan villager employed as an opium poppy destroyer, right, is seen during a poppy eradication campaign in the Rhodat district of Nangarhar province, east of Kabul, Afghanistan, Wednesday, April 11,...   (Associated Press)
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The Gov Docs Guy

UN press release, with full report available for download
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime

Afghans lack economic alternatives to poppies
Washington Post

A look inside an Afghan opium market
BBC

Afghan anti-corruption chief once got busted selling heroin in Vegas
Guardian (UK)

License opium production, defeat the Taliban
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