Atria-Content-Media
 

Afghanistan opium production up 43% - UN drugs watchdog


89820486poppy-field-976
BBC Asia

Opium production in Afghanistan has increased by 43% in the past year, United Nations officials have said.

The UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said the area used to farm the poppy plant, the source of opium, increased by 10% to 201,000 hectares.  But better farming conditions resulted in a higher yield per hectare, increasing overall production.

Afghanistan is the world's largest producer of the substance, which is the main ingredient in heroin. Growing opium is a crime in the country, but it is still a major cash crop for impoverished farming communities.  The Taliban also taxes poppy production in areas it controls, which is a major source of income for its military activities.

UNODC Executive Director Yury Fedotov said the figures were "a worrying reversal in efforts".

Just 355 hectares (877 acres) of poppies were eradicated by provincial authorities in the last year - down more than a 90% since 2015, when almost 4,000 hectares were cleared.

Seven insurgents and one officer died during attacks on eradication teams this year. Seven more people were injured.  The southern region of the country is the most productive area, accounting for 54% of the entire national opium production. Helmand province, which has seen a resurgent Taliban presence, is the single largest producer, with more than 80,000 hectares of poppy cultivation.

The region was a contested area between the Taliban and Nato-led forces, before the latter withdrew in 2014.


BBC Asia, 23/10/2016


Feedback:
Jacob (Guest) 11/04/2018 09:28
LSD and Esctacy are not commanly abused with oxycodone that would be xanax an other benzodizpine type drugs acholol is very common and leads to most of the overdoses. Methamphetamine ADHD drugs and cocaine are also common which gives a speedball effect like with heroin. Not all oxycodone is time released the only ones that cant be tampered with is Percocet http://detoxtime4drugs.com/how-long-does-percocet-stay-in-your-system.html I know my brother had to crush the perocet he was given for tonsil surgey cause it hurt to bad to swallow the pill out right but it should never be snorted are worse injected thats were the biggest causes of overdose come from atleast in my experience as a addiction councilor for the last 14 years cause as a former addict myself I enjoy everyday I can help save someones life.?
(Guest) 06/10/2018 19:02
Man, what is going on in Afghanistan. Someone from the https://www.magicreviews.org/ site needs to keep this production rate in check, otherwise, it could turn out to be a big loss for Afghanistan. They don’t want that.

Atria-Content-Events