U.S. To end Afghan drug eradication

[bindegal]

Holbrooke Says U.S. End to Afghan Drug Eradication Gets Results (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601091&sid=aqmxssVg5ji8)

"The Obama administration’s decision to stop eradicating drug crops in Afghanistan and increase funding for agricultural development is the “most well-received change of American policy” in the region, a U.S. special envoy said.

....Rather than spending an estimated $44,000 per hectare, or 2.47 acres, to eradicate poppy crops, the U.S. will focus on drug interdiction efforts that target traffickers and the development of alternative crops, Holbrooke said."

They could buy the entire harvest, if they use that kind of money per he.!

[Duckfeet]

Yep, it's a good thing, it was unfair and cruel practice...but further down in there, it says U.S. will now go after the traffickers, etc...so it's kind of like here, where every few years they change the strategy without changing anything fundamental...it's supply and demand, always has been: people want products of the opium poppy...and will get them...the price of heroin has gone up and down more times than I can remember, so this is good, for compassionate reasons, but until they start treating addicts humanely, and not shove us onto bullshit pseudo-opiates, the problem will continue....and the people that grow poppies will keep doing that...

[Shadowsblaze]

Long live the Poppy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

[Synack]

Holbrooke Says U.S. End to Afghan Drug Eradication Gets Results (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601091&sid=aqmxssVg5ji8)

"The Obama administration’s decision to stop eradicating drug crops in Afghanistan and increase funding for agricultural development is the “most well-received change of American policy” in the region, a U.S. special envoy said.

....Rather than spending an estimated $44,000 per hectare, or 2.47 acres, to eradicate poppy crops, the U.S. will focus on drug interdiction efforts that target traffickers and the development of alternative crops, Holbrooke said."

They could buy the entire harvest, if they use that kind of money per he.!

that's what I've never understood - for the money they spend on destruction of it, they could just buy it and surplus it... you can never have too much dope..

[bigNasty]

Yep, it's a good thing, it was unfair and cruel practice.....
No fuckin doubt it was. That is those farmers' livelihoods and only(or best) way to make money and support their families. Cigarettes kill way more people than the poppy. Could you imagine another country coming to the US and trying to cut down our tobacco crops?

And swim is not really a conspiracy theorist but the US doesn't want eradication of ALL poppy crops. There's just too much money in it for them. Think about all the prison jobs, organized crime giving the gov't a cut of drug proceeds, fines paid for possession, criminal defense lawyers and judges paying their taxes, etc...... Swim thinks we hear all these figures about how much the war on drugs costs the gov't, but nobody thinks about how much money it makes the gov't. The small guys/simple users are the only ones that lose

[HandMeSomeOpiates]

Hell yeah Obama that's what I'm talking about! Most of these farmers feed their family off the poppy crops- no pun intended lol

[DarthStoner]

This is kinda off topic, but where do the US pharmaceutical companies that manufacture morphine, oxy, etc buy their opiates from - to make their pharms, not to use themselves ;)?

I thought I had read somewhere that a large portion of these opiates came from the Afghani reigion... so if this is the case, aren't we kinda shooting ourselves in the foot just destroying the stuff all willy-nilly?

It's highly possible that I'm wrong on this, but I figure that since it's illegal to cultivate in the US, and I haven't heard of any large fields in America dedicated to producing opiates for pharmaceutical manufacturers, it's probably imported.

So does anyone know if the US purchases opium from Afghani growers - or other growers throughout the world? And if this is the case, does anyone know how they're differentiating poppy grown for "terrorist activity" and that grown for American CP patients?

[Paregoric Kid]

none of the opium grown in Afghanistan is for the pharmaceutical industry, thats how they know.
under the UN Single Convention for Narcotic Drugs every country must submit reports every year on their opium production and opiate/opioid usage to the International Narcotics Control Board.
legal opium producers:
Australia (grown by GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson and Johnson, Johnson Matthey, and Mayne in Tasmania)
UK (by MacFarlan Smith in Didcot, England)
France (by Sanofi-Aventis)
Japan (by Shionogi Pharmaceutical)
India
Turkey
in India and Turkey I believe its grown by regular farmers who get a government license. I'm pretty sure the governments of India and Turkey do the refining and exporting, but I could be wrong.

lots of people think we should just buy opium from Afghanistan, never gonna work. there isn't a shortage of supply PLUS the price of legal opium is much less than the price of illicit opium. none of the farmers would grow the same crop for less money.

[DarthStoner]

Thanks PK - maybe they should start buying some from poppy farmers in Afghanistan, it might curb the amount going to terrorist groups... ya know, if the US offered a fair price, and since they're (we're?) destroying so much already, it might make good business sense, and possibly put us in better esteem with the common people in that country - I know I've got a pretty good relationship w/ my "providers," and it's not like they could hate the US much more... just a thought :).

[Paregoric Kid]

its a lose-lose situation. I don't think it would make good business sense for the US or the farmers. if the US massively subsidizes the opium then we are paying way more for an essential medicine supply and it would increase the amount of debt the US is in. another is that, the black market will always be willing to pay more and why would the farmers want to make less money? another thing is that India produces way more opium per acre than any other country and they produce it cheap. the Afghan farmers can't compete with the large supply and low cost opium from India and the other opium producing countries. just doesn't make any sense to me. in my opinion we should get out of Afghanistan, except for maybe some special forces looking for Bin Laden, and let the farmers be. I'm sure they want the US out of Afghanistan even more than we do.
I think we should NOT be encouraging central planning of the economy from our government. the only way the US would buy their opium currently is if the government gave huge subsidies to the farmers or forced the pharmaceutical companies to buy from them. I think the best thing to do is let the pharmaceutical companies buy from whoever has the lowest price since that would help lower the cost of opiate medications (or at least keep the cost from rising). in an ideal world anyone would be allowed to buy opium from anyone, anywhere, sadly that isn't our reality.

[DarthStoner]

its a lose-lose situation. I don't think it would make good business sense for the US or the farmers. if the US massively subsidizes the opium then we are paying way more for an essential medicine supply and it would increase the amount of debt the US is in. another is that, the black market will always be willing to pay more and why would the farmers want to make less money? another thing is that India produces way more opium per acre than any other country and they produce it cheap. the Afghan farmers can't compete with the large supply and low cost opium from India and the other opium producing countries. just doesn't make any sense to me. in my opinion we should get out of Afghanistan, except for maybe some special forces looking for Bin Laden, and let the farmers be. I'm sure they want the US out of Afghanistan even more than we do.
I think we should NOT be encouraging central planning of the economy from our government. the only way the US would buy their opium currently is if the government gave huge subsidies to the farmers or forced the pharmaceutical companies to buy from them. I think the best thing to do is let the pharmaceutical companies buy from whoever has the lowest price since that would help lower the cost of opiate medications (or at least keep the cost from rising). in an ideal world anyone would be allowed to buy opium from anyone, anywhere, sadly that isn't our reality.

Cool - Now I know, and knowing's half the battle :D.

[nick]

Exactly what the kid said,but it's worth pointing out that it might have been better to subsidise Afghan farmers than tip money into a dumb counter narcotics strategy-Might have been one or two less IEDS,as well.

Afghanistan.....it's so fucked up,it's not even funny any more.