Posted on 02/29/2008 7:03:51 PM PST by BGHater
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Opium poppy production in Afghanistan reached another record high last year and Kabul must do more to stop it, a US State Department report says. The report says that the poppy cultivation helps Taleban insurgents obtain money and weapons. The drug trade hinders progress towards economic stability and democracy, the report adds. Afghanistan grows nearly all of the world's opium poppy crop in an illegal trade worth billions of dollars.
"Eliminating narcotics cultivation and trafficking in Afghanistan will require a long-term national and international commitment," said the State Department. "The Afghan government must take decisive action against poppy cultivation soon to turn back the drug threat before its further growth and consolidation make it even more difficult to defeat." The report says production of the poppy was up more than a third on 2006 and good weather helped increase the yield of land already under cultivation. In a report published at the beginning of February, the UN estimated that the amount of opium poppy cultivated in the volatile southern provinces would increase this year. But the UN's assessment also predicted the overall harvest would be "similar to or lower than" last year's record-breaking level. Poppy-free provinces The UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) based its findings on interviews in almost 500 villages.
Afghanistan says it is making progress on curbing poppy cultivation by persuading farmers not to plant and through destroying poppy fields. Acting counter-narcotics minister General Khodaidad, in an interview with Reuters news agency, said he was optimistic. "We are doing better than last year and will have more poppy-free provinces this year," he said. The growth in Afghanistan's opium crop began in earnest after the overthrow of the Taleban by US-led and Afghan forces in 2001. |
Alot of dealers in my area oversupply is going to kill their bussiness.
mmmmmmm Papaver Somniferum.
It makes quite a delightful green tea, or so I’ve heard(cough). :p
I don’t understand why this isn’t more of an issue here in the states. The seeds you buy off the supermarket shelves are the kind that grow into what they use for ‘illicit’ purposes.
IMO, the Afghan poppy crop is no more dangerous to us or them than the Hollywood crop.
Yeah, we know. It’s all America’s fault. Only this time, I do wish the US and the Armed Forces would cooperate and help the Afghanistanis, clean up, build electric plants, roads, schools, and so on. Leave the country better off than we found it, in other words. And, encourage the farmers to grow peanuts to make Plumpy Nut to send to the starving children of Africa. Plumpy Nut has saved a lot of babies and kids, but of course, we need peanuts, powedered milk and certain vitamins to make Plumpy Nut.
Oh really?
It’s the only way they can make money.
If the United States was so upset about it they could carpet bomb the fields.
Heck, you can scrape them off your bagel and they’ll grow.
There are more and less potent strains, mind you.
Okay. That makes sense...
Yes, for the most part. In recent years they have made an effort to produce seeds for consumption from a different strain of poppy that is high in content of an alkaloid known as Thebain instead of Morphine, but this is only voluntary on the part of the producers. The seeds themselves contain no alkaloids, but people can still test positive for Opiates on drug screens after consuming them because when the seeds are harvested from the seed pods they get soaked from the 'Opium latex' of the plant during the process. If the seeds go unwashed, they will still have residue of the latex on them, which WILL cause someone to test positive for Opiates, for a few hours anyway.
Note to self — cancel the poppy-covered rolls for the Amish convention...
Well, on the other hand it *may* spice things up a little. lol
My grandmother grew poppies. Don’t know if she made any heroin though.
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