U.N. Calls For A Tougher Anti-Opium Fight

Afghanistan is the center of the world-wide opium trade which continues to flow across its borders virtually unchecked. With the opium comes large amounts of heroin as well as all other illicit activities that can be thought of. U.N. Offices on Drugs and Crime Executive Director Antonio Maria Costa said in a UPI report, "The Afghanistan-Pakistan border region has turned into the world's largest free trade zone in anything and everything that is illicit -- drugs of course, but also weapons, bomb-making equipment, chemical precursors, drug money, even people and migrants". Afghanistan has become a state of chaos which adversely affects everyone of its neighbors eventually and eventually the drugs find their way into: Europe, Russia, India, and China. 900 tons of opium and 350 tons of heroin annually cross Afghanistan's borders via Balkan and Eurasian drug trafficking routes. The U.N. calls for a tougher anti-opium fight in the region in order to curb the unbelievable amount of drugs crossing the border.

Afghanistan's opium is directly responsible for increased drug addiction as well as a bump in diseases that can be transmitted intravenously, like HIV. The money incurred from the sale of Afghan opium trickles down to the terrorist organizations in the region, similar to how drug profits fund the Mexican cartels continents away. A UNODC report published by the UPI states, "The report from the U.N. Offices on Drugs and Crime said Afghanistan produces almost all the world's opium, from which heroin is made. The global opium market is estimated at $65 billion and the number of addicts is estimated at 15 million, with an annual death rate of 100,000". It is very clear that action needs to be taken if there is any chance in curbing the devastating problem. Current efforts to stop the flow have produced minimal results, only about 2% of all the opium harvested is seized by authorities because of corruption and lawlessness in Afghanistan and its uncontrolled borders.

Afghan opium is not anything new, that region of the world is premium real estate for growing the drug. Nevertheless, the majority of drugs grown in Afghanistan have a hard time staying within Afghan borders. The time has come for the world to step up and try and fix the growing problem; entire nations are susceptible to the Afghan deadly poison which holds entire families in bondage. Small children are becoming addicted to opium and heroin on a daily basis which has become completely unacceptable. People will sell anything to get one last fix and before they know it they have nothing left. A plan needs to be devised by the U.N. to stop the problem before it gets out of hand more than it already is.

Afghanistan has become Riddled with Drug Addicts

War torn and covered by a blanket of despair, the country of Afghanistan has become riddled with drug addicts. A staggering number of addicts estimated to be 1.5 million, 120,000 of which are females (according to the Ministry of Narcotics) can be seen across the country. The Opium crop in Afghanistan is believed to be the main ingredient in 93 percent of the world's Heroin; despite that fact, there are many advocates attempting to legalize Opium crops throughout the country. The International Council on Security and Development (ICOS) has been promoting the legal cultivation of opium for many years. ICOS claims to have no affiliation with global drug companies trying to get a hold on the market for morphine. "Yet ICOS is no longer welcomed by the Afghan government. And, despite ICOS claims, the International Narcotics Control Board counters there is no worldwide shortage of heroin for medical purposes. Nineteen countries legally produce it; only India exports it." according to The Toronto Star.

In the last eight years both the United States and Great Britain have set out to eradicate the Opium fields in Afghanistan; however, despite their best efforts it has done little to curtail the enormous market. "Washington last month announced it was pulling out of the eradication scheme" despite the fact that 18 of Afghanistan's 34 provinces are believed to be Opium-free. Richard Holbrooke, the U.S. envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, has said eradication "didn't reduce the amount of money the Taliban got by one dollar. It is almost as if the United States is given up the fight against Opium cultivation and this can only do more harm than good on a global scale.

Meanwhile, Afghanistan's domestic drug problem continues out of control while people continue to prosper off the drug. There are very few drug treatment facilities in Afghanistan and entire families are hooked on the drug in one form or another. "These men – and the addicted women shuttered inside their houses, routinely given opium during childbirth, even blowing heroin fumes into the mouths of colicky babies – can see no further than their next fix". Mothers and fathers try and get their children into treatment despite being addicted themselves. Heroin is a much more potent refined form of a Opium which has caused an epidemic in Afghanistan and many other countries as well.

Fortunately for those who suffer from addiction in America the option for treatment is readily available for those who want it. Please share your thoughts with us regarding this subject...

Whole Family has become Addicted to Opium

In war torn Afghanistan Opium is about the only drug that people can get their hands on. Opium is used for medicine in Afghanistan, after decades of struggle between the Russians in the 80's and the United States beginning in 2001 the country is left in the dark when it comes to medical aid. What was once used for medicine has now become an epidemic much like China in the 18th and 19th centuries, where whole villages have become hooked to Opium. National Geographic just interviewed the Beg family in the village of Sarab which has a population of fewer than 2,000, and half are already addicts. "I started taking a smoke until I got addicted to this (opium). I lost my property, I lost my strength, my bravery and now I am laying here with an empty stomach", says Islam Beg age 65. His whole family has become addicted to Opium and his one-year old grandson has already started taking the drug, the family's argument is that there is no other medicine - all they have is Opium.

Islam Beg once was the owner of much of the land in his village along with many animals, but now, he has nothing other than the pipe, as he and his family sold everything in order to keep it filled. Islam Beg is ashamed of the person that he has become and there is not much help out there for people in his position. The country of Afghanistan has few drug treatment facilities available, with less than 200 beds for drug rehab nationwide it is not surprising there is such a staggering number of addicts. Afghanistan's chief export happens to be Opium which is sold to pharmaceutical companies around the world for pain medication; and the opium that is not exported legally to pharmaceutical companies is exported illegally as the raw ingredient for heroin. Millions of dollars pour into Afghanistan, purchasing the drug for use in nations around the world. The United States in 2004 gave 4.4 billion dollars in aid for infrastructure, which I highly doubt much or any of that money went to heath care in a nation that has an estimated 150,000 opium addicts and a further 50,000 heroin addicts. Without support directed towards the addiction problem, many people will have little choice but to die an addict.

Islam Beg is "hopeful that his grandchildren will escape his fate, he believes they're not yet addicted", but, when you start using Opium at the age of one it is hard to see any other path. People will give up anything for the drug and without drug education and medical alternatives it is not surprising. Corporations make billions of dollars at the hands of a country in the grips of addiction. Villages in Afghanistan are in desperate need of relief in the way of drug treatment facilities; without foreign aid I do not see how children have any other fate away from the Opium pipe. "Decades of war and poverty have instilled a sense of hopelessness in many people here, making narcotics an easy destructive way to deal with an often grim reality."

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