Opium production in Afghanistan has plummeted since the Taliban banned cultivation of the poppy plant, according to a UN report published on Sunday.
Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers pledged to wipe out the country’s drug industry, banning poppy cultivation in April 2022.
Poppy plants are the source of opium and heroin. Afghanistan was the world’s biggest opium producer and a major source for heroin in Europe and Asia before the Taliban takeover.
So to stop growing drugs is a bad thing now?
We never stopped it for a reason during all the time the US was there. You need to establish an alternative income for the farmers. They grow poppy because it feeds their families. Ironically the big profits were only seen by the Taliban and not the actual farmers.
Now the farmers can’t just switch to almonds or other high value crops instantly so they will go broke. And many of the US attempts to fund the transition away from poppies were corrupted by Afghan government, making farmers move back to poppies.
20 years of US occupation and almost 50k civilian deaths and its worse than before, sounds about right.
That’s a valid point, though the article sounds like cultivation was going on during the the time the Taliban wasn’t in control and is now being banned by them.
I have no doubt that the actual farmers got nothing of value in either regimes though.
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Considering Street Fentanyl and Carfentanyl yeah. Believe it or not ( I can’t believe I am saying this) plant based opiates are weaker and therefore safer than the synthetic stuff. The removal of the weaker stuff leads to an increase in risk for addiction to synthetic opiates across the world
Times a changin’ old man better keep up before you get left behind.
Drugs are medicine. The fact that drugs can be abused does not make them something bad in general. For many pain patients around the world opioids are simply a necessity.
The loss of income many afghan farmers will suffer from losing their most important cash crop will be significant. Add the fact that economically, Afghanistan is already a poor country. Obviously no more poppy farming will make people´s lives even worse.
Lack of opium poppies being grown just means more synthetic fentanyl being produced. It doesn’t do a thing to hinder drug use by those who need it/seek it out.
It’s also going to raise prices for opiate based pharmaceuticals like morphine and it’s also going to raise prices for opioid pharmaceuticals because it’s people in great pain that’ll have to endure the cost.
I never implied it would …
I was either adding on to your comment or meant to reply to someone else, don’t remember, but wasn’t debating.
Apologies, I was not entirely sure about your comment from the beginning.
Only when enemies of America do it. After all, won’t somebody think of big pharmas profits?
It’s alright, just hike the price of some drug no other company produces by 9001%. What’s the gubmint gonna do, regulate prices?
It’s complicated. Afghanistan had made hydro projects with the West back in the day. Those pushed salt up the water table. Guess what plant is fine with that saltier soil?
“jobs tho”
I’m sure they will be able to farm other things… like food.