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Spike in Opium Prices Threatens Progress in Afghan Drug War
By Joseph Schuman - AOL NewsA recent surge in opium prices could encourage Afghan farmers to expand cultivation of the narcotic crop and reverse advances in the fight against drug production in the war-torn country, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime warned today. The UNODC said a blight that cut poppy production by half in 2010 and continuing military operations in Afghanistan have spawned uncertainty about future cultivation and speculation that there will be shortages, which has led opium prices to soar. AFP / Getty Images Afghan villagers tend to opium poppies in Helmand province in April 2007. ...
UN: Drug Addiction Rates Soaring in Afghanistan
By Betwa Sharma - AOL News(June 21) -- The rate of drug addiction in Afghanistan is twice the global average, according to a new United Nations report that also shows Afghans have become the leading consumers of their own opium. Released today by the U.N. Drugs and Crimes Office, the study found that about 1 million Afghans between the ages of 15 and 64 -- or roughly 8 percent of the population -- suffer from drug addiction. The most striking trend is the massive increase in the use of opium, heroin and other opiates, which has nearly doubled in the past five years and has 3 percent of the adult population ...
New U.S. Strategy in Afghanistan Ignores Some Opium Production
By Christopher Weber - Politics DailyIn a controversial change of Afghanistan policy, U.S. forces are no longer eradicating opium production in the former Taliban stronghold of Marja, as they try to gain the sympathies of locals who rely on poppy farming as a main source of income. "Marja is a special case right now," Cmdr. Jeffrey Eggers told The New York Times. "We don't trample the livelihood of those we're trying to win over." Opium cultivation is illegal in Afghanistan and some local government officials say the new U.S. strategy sends the wrong message to Marja residents. They claim letting the poppy harvest continue ...
Fighting the War in Afghanistan With Fruit
By Dave Thier - AOL News(Feb. 14) -- Joining a growing movement toward resuscitating Afghanistan from the ground up, the Italian Provincial Reconstruction donated 240,000 cherry, almond, apricot and pear trees to Herat Province's department of agriculture. Italy's gift echoes the sentiments of other groups who are pinning hopes for the Afghan economy's growth on fruit. Only about 15 percent of Afghanistan's land is suitable for cultivation, but agriculture remains the driving force in the nation's economy. Three decades of war following the Soviet invasion in 1979, however, have taken a tremendous toll on food ...
Deaths Shine Light on DEA's Hidden War in Afghanistan
By Sharon Weinberger - AOL NewsWASHINGTON (Nov. 4) -- War and drugs are inextricably linked in Afghanistan. On Oct. 19, a drug bazaar raid in Afghanistan's Kandahar Province uncovered not just drugs but materials for improvised explosive devices -- the weapon of choice for the resurgent Taliban. That raid, details of which have not been previously reported but were confirmed by the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, was carried out by members of a Drug Enforcement Administration paramilitary team, working with U.S. Special Forces and Afghan army counterparts. Such raids can reap great rewards -- an opium lab was destroyed during the ...
Election Behind Him, Afghanistan's Karzai Vows to Combat Corruption
By David Sessions - Politics DailyIn his first speech since winning re-election as president of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai vowed to fight corruption in his government, the New York Times reported Tuesday. "Afghanistan has been tarnished by administrative corruption, and I will launch a campaign to clean the government of corruption," Karzai said. He offered few specifics, except to say that his anti-corruption crusade will not include replacing high-ranking leaders, many of whom have ties to Afghanistan's illegal opium trade. Karzai's brother, Ahmed Wali Karzai, is a suspected leader in the booming industry, which is a major ...
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