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Afghanistan's opium crop sowing misery for women
Under a wine-colored burqa that flows from the crown of her head down over her body, Khadija sat cross-legged, spinning the wheel of a sewing machine and methodically stitching a seam into a flowing stream of white cloth.
The 42-year-old mother of five was working to burn off a consuming and deadly habit that again is blooming across Afghanistan.
Until a few days ago, Khadija, who like many Afghans uses only one name, slipped opium in her tea twice a day to combat depression.
"It was," Khadija said, "more important than food."
Just as the Taliban have been reborn in Afghanistan, so have the opium crops.
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime said Afghanistan now produces about 93 percent of the world's opium, yielding an estimated $3 billion a year. The money typically benefits local warlords, corrupt government officials and the Taliban, which once famously banned production of the crop.
The UNODC statistics also indicate the amount of opium cultivated here has increased every year since 2001, when the U.S. military first deposed the Taliban.
Growing demographic
It's now estimated that 1 million of Afghanistan's 32 million people are addicted to narcotics, yet there are only three dozen treatment and rehabilitation facilities throughout the country's 250,000 square miles.
Among those seeking help, "the number of addicted women coming to us requesting help is increasing every day," said Rona Threen, who heads the government's Women's Affairs Office in Kandahar. While statistics suggest women remain a sliver of all addicts — estimated at only about 2 percent — the center has become an important outlet for women who have no access to psychiatrists, counselors or other drug treatment professionals.
"We want to teach them a craft with the hope they'll respond positively and overcome their drug habits," said Shazia Safi, 36, a tailor who teaches at the center. "I'm always telling them to look closely at what people are wearing in their neighborhoods because they can make those styles of clothes and earn money selling them."
There are currently 35 inpatients at the center battling addictions. They learn sewing, embroidery and carpet making so they later can work from home to hopefully alleviate financial burdens.
The center also provides job training to women who aren't addicted but want to learn skills so they can work at home. In addition to the training, the women receive wheat, flour and 1,000 Afghanis monthly — slightly more than $20 — to cover commuting costs.
***Read More*** Under a wine-colored burqa that flows from the crown of her head down over her body, Khadija sat cross-legged, spinning the wheel of a... more -
UN: Drug cultivation up in Afghanistan
UNITED NATIONS -- A hike in opium and coca cultivation in rebel-held areas of Afghanistan and Colombia in 2007 could put at risk progress in worldwide drug control, said a UN report released Thursday.
The World Drug Report 2008, by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNDOC), found that Afghanistan had a record opium harvest in 2007 -- 8,200 metric tons or 92 percent of global production -- which led to a near doubling of the world’s illegal opium output since 2005.
,,,,there is nothing like a bit of war to fuel the trade in drugs and human flesh, works every time. UNITED NATIONS -- A hike in opium and coca cultivation in rebel-held areas of Afghanistan and Colombia in 2007 could put at risk progr... more -
Taleban 'makes $100 million' on opium in 2007
UN estimates last years opium poppy harvest was worth $1 billion. The Taleban taxes poppy farmers 10%, making them $100 million on the crops, according to Antonio Maria Costa, head of the UN's Office on Drugs and Crime. Also, over the past few years there has been a surplus in opium as they're producing more than global demand. Where exactly these stockpiles are stored is unclear, but the UN says that the closer they look at the drugs trade, the closer they see insurgents to the drugs trade. Officials in Britain believe that a lot of their arms and ammunition are funded directly by the drugs trade.
So yeah, drugs are bad, and buying them pours money into insurgents pockets. But on the other hand, what about the farmers who rely on the money from growing these cash crops for their livelihood? UN estimates last years opium poppy harvest was worth $1 billion. The Taleban taxes poppy farmers 10%, making them $100 million on the... more -
Mexico drug violence intensifies
A spike in violence between rival drug gangs and police has exacerbated concern about security – and may lead to questions about a key US aid package.
As gang violence flares in Mexico and concerns rise on both sides of the border over Mexico's stability, a debate is intensifying over a Bush administration aid package to the Mexican government.
The conditions stem from concerns over corruption, as The Washington Post editorial points out.
"But there's substantial congressional skepticism about aid that could flow to the notoriously unaccountable, often corrupt, Mexican military and police forces. And then the tough, basic question: Realistically, how much could U.S. aid of roughly $500 million a year do to stem the gargantuan illegal drug trade that now flows across the Mexican border — about $23 billion a year by U.S. Government Accountability Office estimates? A spike in violence between rival drug gangs and police has exacerbated concern about security – and may lead to questions about a key... more -
Afghanistan seeks to revive farming sector
By FISNIK ABRASHI
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghanistan will ask international donors next month for $4 billion to revive its agricultural sector, but it could be a hard sell with another massive crop of opium expected this year.
Despite the sharply rising price of grain, foreign-funded efforts to promote legal alternatives to the narcotic have largely failed.
Farmers still make much more from growing poppy, the raw material for heroin, which flourishes amid Afghanistan's Taliban insurgency and rampant lawlessness. Half of the country's production comes from Helmand province, a stronghold of insurgents.
Roughly one out of every seven farmers in this predominantly rural nation of 32 million people grow opium. Giving them alternatives is part of Afghanistan's plan to invest $4 billion over the next five years in its outdated agricultural sector.
Follow link for full scoop By FISNIK ABRASHI ... more -
Opium becoming the new cash crop in Iraq
Iraqi farmers trying to make ends meet are increasingly turning to cultivating poppies whose product is turned into heroin because they can no longer make a living growing traditional crops like oranges and pomegranates. Farmers are getting help making the switch in their production from experienced Afghan growers, and are being funded by drug smugglers who supply heroin to Saudi Arabia. According to this report: "The growing of poppies has now spread to Diyala, which is one of the places in Iraq where al-Qa'ida is still resisting US and Iraqi government forces... The growing and smuggling of opium will be difficult to stop in Iraq because much of the country is controlled by criminalised militias."
I don't like the sound of mixing drugs and terrorist groups... Mostly because of the potential for spinning the wars on drugs and terror further into a political mess. Could this happen? Iraqi farmers trying to make ends meet are increasingly turning to cultivating poppies whose product is turned into heroin because the... more -
Toddlers addicted to heroin
"While I was baby, my mother gave me opium," says Aka Murat, 40.
That's seems to be the norm if you grew up in northern Afghanistan.
By the time Murat was two years old, he says eating opium had become a habit. "Now if I don't take opium twice a day, I feel pain in my body and become like a crazy man," he continues.
Nazira, a 28-year old carpet weaver admitted giving her child opium as a sedative so as not to "disturb us during our work."
Nazira believes if child care facilities were available for her and mothers in similar position, their dependency on opium would fall.
"If we had a kindergarten, we wouldn't need to give our children opium and spend our money on buying opium," she says. "And I know after 10 years nobody would use opium in here."
Despite the efforts of the UK and US governments, this years opium production in Afghanistan reached 8,200 tonnes - a 34% increase over last year's figures.
Afghanistan now account for 93% for the world's opium production.
Link: http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2007/11/16/opium-study.ht... "While I was baby, my mother gave me opium," says Aka Murat, 40. ... more -
Hey Afghan Farmers! We'll Pay You to Ditch the Opium
The UK is planning a new scheme in the fight against the Taliban in Afghanistan: targeting opium crops. The scheme would provide subsidies to woo Afghani farmers off opium production.
Says Lord Malloch-Brown: "We have to do a much better job of not targeting the farmers, the producers whose hearts and minds we are trying to win in the counter-insurgency effort. We have to target the industry above that - the financiers, the shippers, the drug big men who are benefiting from the production. We know who they are and the government of Afghanistan know who they are. A system banning them from travel, listing them and freezing their bank accounts, hitting at the industry's infrastructure, strikes me as an area in which more can be done."
Do you think this is a good strategic move for Britain? The UK is planning a new scheme in the fight against the Taliban in Afghanistan: targeting opium crops. The scheme would provide subsi... more -
Cannabis replacing opium poppies in Afghanistan
So, prices will go down and there will be some black available on the market, but I'd be wary of smoking it - a huge amount of Depleted Uranium has been dropped onto Afghanistan these past six years.
See: http://www.leechvideo.com/video/view1801762.html So, prices will go down and there will be some black available on the market, but I'd be wary of smoking it - a huge amount of De... more -
Letting slip the drugs of war - Is the CIA helping itself to the Afghan heroin har...
Remembering the Iran/Contra scandal and the fact that the CIA has ofttimes financed its black operations by smuggling and selling drugs, this would not surprise me at all. Remembering the Iran/Contra scandal and the fact that the CIA has ofttimes financed its black operations by smuggling and selling drug... more
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US Opium eradication in Afghanistan- Saber rattling without a sword
What this article talks about, the US pushing for eradication in Afghanistan, is simply not plausible, and the US knows it. It physically is very possible to eradicate poppy with spraying and cutting, but its just not realistic in the political context of Afghanistan today. Approximately 2/3 of the Afghan economy is dependent on opium, so removing that through eradication would collapse the country. The country is already bordering on instability and the Karzai government has a tenuous grip on power as it is. Karzai has already denied allowing the US to eradicate in Afghanistan once, and he will do it again, because if the countries economy really collapses it gives the resurgent Taliban a tremendous advantage, and almost assures the Karzai cant remain in power. What this article talks about, the US pushing for eradication in Afghanistan, is simply not plausible, and the US knows it. It physic... more
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Afghan Smack
Kaj Larsen looks at the heroin industry in Afghanistan--the world's largest producer of heroin.
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