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We could just buy the whole Afghan opium harvest from them and it would still be cheaper than funding numerous NGO "assistance" projects. Even if all we did was dump it in the ocean. But we could use it as there is a world-wide morphine shortage. I'm not the first to suggest this:

Buy opium to stop heroin production
The Problem:
Taking Heroin off the streets and addressing the worldwide Morphine shortage.
The Social Invention:
The total cost in the E.U. of trying to contol heroin last year was £24 billion ($44 billion). Heroin is one of the worlds most addictive and deadly drugs and with record harvests in afghanistan there is set to be a lot more of this drug on our streets. Afghanistan currently produces one third of the worlds heroin, with 80% of the population dependant on the crop to make money. With the war on terror, troops have been destroying opium crops in the country to combat the problem. Even with their efforts there is to be a record harvest this year.
This itself also produces problems as many farmers have been joining the Taliban and other insurgent forces in the country when their livelyhood has been wiped out by British and American troops. You only have to look at the news to see the situation in Afghanistan is getting worse especially in opium producion regions such as Hellmand province.
The dilemma is that this crop is what is holding Afghanistan together but is at the same time destroying thousands of lives elsewhere. Destroying the crop only makes the situation, so my solution is to buy the opium crop from them.
The best thing about this idea is that the opium has a use and will not go to waste. At the moment there is a worldwide morphine shortage, and many nations go without as it is to expensive to buy. Opium just so happens to be the same ingrediant of morphine. Currently there are only four nations in the world allowed to grow opium for morphine production (France, Spain, Turkey & India). If Afghanistan was added to the list the price of morphine would fall dramatically and there would not be the current worldwide shortage. To pay for this scheme money from the E.U. fund for tackling heroin which I mentioned earlier could be used. The advantages include...
- The farmers in Afghanistan would get a fair price for their crop.
- It would stop farmers joining the Taliban.
- It would reduce the price of morphine.
- It would address the morphine shortage.
- It would help stabilize Afghanistan.
- There would be a dramatic drop in Heroin reaching Europe.
There are many reasons for this and I am yet to find any against it.
The Author - Gerard Mahoney