We have our beautiful War on Drugs……and we have our War in Afghanistan and this is where the two “wars” intersect……..the poppy fields of Afghanistan where opium is produced by the ton….and after 13 years of fighting we, the US, still has not been able to stop the flow out of the Afghan fields…..and this year Afghans have something to celebrate……

(AP) – After more than a decade of international efforts to combat the narcotics trade in Afghanistan—depriving the Taliban of funds in the process—the country is now producing more opium than ever before, a UN reports funds. The harvest this year resulted in a staggering 6,000 tons of opium, 49% higher than last year and more than the combined output of the rest of the world. Even Afghan provinces with some past successes in combating poppy cultivation saw those trends reversed, according to this year’s UN Office on Drugs and Crime report.

The withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan next year is likely to make matters even worse, warns the UNODC regional representative in Kabul. He warned that as international assistance falls off, the Afghan government will become increasingly reliant on illicit sources of income. Those who benefit from the drug trade include farmers, insurgents, and many within the government, often working together, he says. The vast majority of Afghanistan’s poppy cultivation takes place in the south, southwest, and east—areas where the Taliban insurgency is thriving.

War is Hell!  And apparently if you are a poppy farmer…….. very lucrative….

I do not understand why our wealthy Pharma does just not buy the crop…after all they produce Morphine and other pain killers…..at least it would not all hit the street as Heroin…..about time that the capitalist companies start acting like they have the interest of society in their hearts…..I know….I do dream at times….but I still think it is a valid idea…..

Back to the War on Drugs….what does it cost per year?  Billions?  Why not buy up the crop and then destroy it….it would stop the flow of opium to the market and save the economic base of the farmers…….but NO…we had rather pay for a massive bureaucracy that does nothing to stop drugs and feeds only itself…..great plan!