Why not treat the Afghan Poppy farmers the same way we treat some American farmers, pay them NOT to grow poppies.
"Why not treat the Afghan Poppy farmers the same way we treat some American farmers, pay them NOT to grow poppies."
They did do that in the very beginning. I recall Karzai saying that, and "We had a large increase in poppy crops that year". He went on to say they screwed up and are working on other ways. He went on and on on how Afghan pomegranets are the world's best and to increase their market share.
It's a tough spot to be in if you're trying to bring the value of pomegranets up to heroin for the local farmer. For the dealer not so hard (pomegranite? okay. Heroin? Bang.) But for the farmer that's been growing poppies for generations that might be harder.