Latest on opium

NATO "indifferent" to Afghan drugs problem: Iran
Iran accused NATO on Wednesday of being indifferent towards Afghanistan's growing drugs problem and called on European states to help Tehran fight smuggling of heroin and other narcotics from its neighbor.

Iran is on a heroin smuggling route to the West from the opium fields of Afghanistan, the world's number one producer of the opium poppy, which is processed to make heroin.


Location of opium poppy fields to remain secret
The Government has insisted that the location of dozens of Hampshire fields used to grow the raw materials for heroin must stay secret - to stop people stealing the controversial crop.

The Home Office rejected a Freedom of Information request lodged by the Daily Echo to find out the precise locations of 26 sites in the county used to cultivate opium poppies for medicinal use last year.

The poppies, from which the illegal Class A drug heroin is derived, are used to produce legal morphine, which is used by the NHS to relieve pain.
In February, the Daily Echo revealed that Hampshire was the UK's capital for opium production, with the county's 2007 crop, taking up 1,238 hectares, almost as large as the rest of the UK's put together.


'Medicinal opium' calls rejected
A Foreign Office minister has rejected calls for opium production for medicinal use to be legalised in Afghanistan.

Lord Malloch-Brown said such a plan would be unworkable and fuel the illegal drugs industry because Afghanistan lacked the infrastructure and resources to control crops.

He told the British Medical Journal legalising such crops could drive up prices and lead even more farmers to grow opium.

The Minister for Africa, Asia and the United Nations warned opium production in the country "fuels corruption and undermines the rule of law".

And he added: "The Afghan government lacks the necessary resources, institutional capacity and control mechanisms to guarantee that opium is only purchased legally.

"Those cultivating and purchasing opium for medical usage would be in direct competition with illegal traffickers, which could drive up the price of opium and encourage increased cultivation.

"Farmers who do not currently grow poppies would abandon legal crops to meet the market's demand. Ultimately, the area of land under poppy cultivation could increase.

Quite simply, farmers would grow more to supply an additional purchaser."

He added that countries such as Turkey and Australia, which were already established sources of legalised opium production, were best placed to meet demand.

 

 

Australian wheat to replace opium in Afghanistan

AUSTRALIA will fund wheat trials in Afghanistan aimed at weaning struggling farmers off illegal opium poppy crops.

Authorities hope the $1.5 million project will also help the war-torn country feed itself.

NATO and allied forces -- including Australian troops -- are trying to stamp out Afghanistan's lucrative trade in opium, largely controlled by extremist groups.