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In News
- Recently, a new report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) was released highlighting the cultivation of Poppy in Afghanistan.
Key Points
- Demand and need driven cultivation:
- Driven by the demand for heroin and other opioids, mostly in the West, Afghanistan’s poppy farmers have figured out that in a broken country where there are no jobs, and the de facto government has no money, poppy guarantees survival.
Image Courtesy: IE
- Thriving industry in Afghanistan:
- Afghanistan’s illicit narcotics industry thrived under the puritanical first Taliban regime, it flourished through two decades of democracy, and it continues to do so under the new Taliban regime.
- Eighty percent of the world’s opiates come from Afghanistan.
- Poppy Cultivation:
- Land: In 2021 (October and November are the sowing season), it increased by 32 per cent over the previous year.
- Last year, poppy was sown on 233,000 hectares, and in some places, farmers even replaced traditional crops with poppy.
- Climate: If the harvest (in spring) had not been affected by a drought that hit many parts of Afghanistan, there would have been a bumper crop.
- Land: In 2021 (October and November are the sowing season), it increased by 32 per cent over the previous year.
Image Courtesy: IE
- Price spike:
- A ban on cultivation imposed by the Taliban in April 2022, exempted the standing crop and harvest, and sent the price of opium shooting.
- Alternatives:
- The 2021 harvest of 6,200 tonnes, 10 per cent less than in 2021, could be converted into 350-380 tonnes of export-quality heroin.
Global Scenario
- The supply source for this huge underground economy is now concentrated in three areas:
- Afghanistan,
- South-East Asia (mostly Myanmar) and
- Latin America (Mexico and Colombia).
- Together, they supply nearly all the world’s illicit opium and heroin, but Afghanistan stands out among this group, accounting for around 90% of global illicit opium production in recent years.
Impact on India
- Rising health costs:
- Among illicit narcotics, opiates are also the most costly in terms of treatment, medical care and, arguably, drug-related violence.
- In addition, heroin is the drug most associated with injection, which brings about a host of acute and chronic health problems, including the transmission of blood-borne diseases such as HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis C.
- 45% of Heroin in India originates from Afghanistan.
- Stability and security:
- Beyond its health impact, the illicit opiate industry also has a detrimental effect on stability and security in a number of places, including through the funding it provides for insurgents in production areas, particularly in Afghanistan.
- Terrorist angle:
- There is ‘deep concern about links between illicit drug production, trafficking and involvement of terrorist groups, criminals and transnational organized crime.’
Reasons Behind the Drug Menace in India
- Misguided Youth and Peer Pressure psychology
- Lack of awareness about socio-legal and health consequences
- Proximity with Golden Crescent and Golden Triangle:
- Golden Triangle:
- It includes the regions of Myanmar, Laos, and Thailand.
- It is Southeast Asia’s main opium-producing region and one of the oldest narcotics supply routes to Europe and North America.
- Golden Crescent:
- It includes Afghanistan, Iran, and Pakistan.
- It is a principal global site for opium production and distribution.
- Golden Triangle:
Benefits
- Farmer’s income increase:
- The income of farmers from opium sales more than tripled from $425 million in 2021 to $1.4 billion in 2022
- 29 per cent of the Afghan agricultural sector’s total value in 2022, higher by 20 percentage points over the previous year.
- Employment generation:
- As a labour intensive crop, poppy was a great source of employment in rural Afghanistan, and led to other trickle-down economic activities. Distributing the work of revenue collection was also a way to keep the factions within from rebelling.
Challenges being faced in Afghanistan
- Financial: Still international outcasts and with no access to global funding, they are scrambling to raise money by levying taxes, as humanitarian aid keeps Afghanistan going.
- Regional concern:
- Russia and Afghanistan’s Central Asian neighbours view drugs as a top concern, more perhaps than the threat of religious extremism, radicalisation, and terrorism.
- India has voiced concerns about it from time to time.
- At the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation security meetings, the threat of terrorism and drug trafficking from Afghanistan are discussed as inter-related threats to regional and global security.
Way Ahead
- International cooperation: Foster international cooperation for fighting the enduring problem of drug trafficking. The development of international accountability mechanisms and best practices would greatly increase interception capacity.
- Global Monitoring: Enhance expert access to the dark web in order to take down online markets and platforms. Implement real-time data monitoring systems for promptly detecting and addressing drug market changes.
- People-centered Approach: Implement an integrated, people-centred and human-rights based approach to empowering African societies to develop sustainable solutions to drug use.
- Public-private Partnerships: Improve government response to drug trafficking on the internet by forging public/private partnerships with internet service providers, tech companies, shipping and mailing companies.
- Awareness-Raising and Communication: Use fact-based information to raise awareness of the potential harm from non-medical use of cannabis. Need to close the gap between perception and reality by educating young people and safeguarding public health.
Know about Opium
Image Courtesy: Opium |
Source: IE
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