The Poppy Eradication Superthread-Merged

[Kunu]

Production would increase rather dramatically and any attempt to curb how much you buy would mean the illicit buyers would be back in business. It's just not that simple.

As much as I like this idea, I also think the above mentioned point cannot be ignored.  While some farmers will be content with selling their crop legimately to feed their families, I have trouble believing that there won't be at least a few who get greedy and sell for illicit purposes for more bling.  I think it's just human nature.  Also, the supply-demand argument can go both ways, if people want it badly enough, they'll pay more if less is out there. 

Also, another side of me can't help but think of the old legend of the city which had a rat problem and whose mayor put a bounty on each dead rat turned in.  However, instead of eliminating the rat population, some crafty people started breeding them.  If such a thing happened with poppies, while it may keep people out of trouble, it still doesn't help develop a "real economy". 

 

[zipperhead_cop]

Perhaps don't give the farmers money?  Give them items for their trade, such as food, seeds, a new tractor, an irrigation system etc.  Provide items that will ultimately make them better farmers, but don't just throw cash around that can fall into the wrong hands.  Maybe if there is land available, give them some of that too, so they can expand their operation.  Bigger crops of legal harvest to offset the high value poppy crops.   

 

[bilton090]

Perhaps don't give the farmers money?  Give them items for their trade, such as food, seeds, a new tractor, an irrigation system etc.  Provide items that will ultimately make them better farmers, but don't just throw cash around that can fall into the wrong hands.  Maybe if there is land available, give them some of that too, so they can expand their operation.  Bigger crops of legal harvest to offset the high value poppy crops.   

  + 1 Zipperhead

 

[Kunu]

Don't mean to kick the thread, but there's also gotta be mechanisms to ensure that bigger crops of legal harvest don't become bigger crops of poppy. 

 

[zipperhead_cop]

Don't mean to kick the thread, but there's also gotta be mechanisms to ensure that bigger crops of legal harvest don't become bigger crops of poppy. 

No doubt there would be lots of issues with implementing such a program.  But if regulation and enforcement of crop standards ends up being the big issue there, I think we will have gotten to a point where we have things pretty gripped. 

 

[GAP]

Afghanistan won't spray poppies
JASON STRAZIUSO Associated Press
Article Link

KABUL — Afghanistan's heroin-producing poppies will not be sprayed with herbicide this year despite a record crop in 2006 and U.S. pressure for President Hamid Karzai to allow the drug-fighting tactic, a spokesman said Thursday.

However, Mr. Karzai told foreign and Afghan officials this week that if Afghanistan's poppy crop isn't reduced this year he would allow spraying in 2008, according to a Western official who requested anonymity because of the matter's sensitivity.

Mr. Karzai's cabinet decided Sunday to hold off on using chemicals for now, according to Said Mohammad Azam, spokesman for Afghanistan's Ministry of Counter Narcotics.

“There will be no ground spraying this year,” Mr. Azam told The Associated Press.

He said there would be more pressure to destroy poppy crops with “traditional” techniques — typically sending teams of labourers into fields to batter down or plow in the plants before they can be harvested.

“If it works, that is fine,” Mr. Azam said. “If it does not, next year ground spraying will be in the list of options.”

Fuelled by the Taliban, a powerful drug mafia and the need for a profitable crop that can overcome drought, opium production from poppies in Afghanistan last year rose 49 per cent to 6,700 tons — enough to make about 670 tons of heroin. That's more than 90 per cent of the world's supply and more than the world's addicts consume in a year.
More on link

 

[Armymedic]

Guess we can say that we don't do drugs...

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20070512/afghanistan_poppies_070512/20070512?hub=TopStories

CTV.ca News Staff
 

Updated: Sat. May. 12 2007 10:13 PM ET

Afghanistan is on the verge of harvesting its latest record opium crop, and Canadian troops are staying out of the way.

"We have nothing to do with poppy eradication.  We stay away from it as far as we can," Maj. Steve Graham of the Royal Canadian Dragoons told CTV News.

The plan is to attack the insurgency first and leave the battle against drugs for another day.

This approach may have bought Canadian soldiers in Kandahar province -- the second-biggest opium-producing province; neighbouring Helmand is the biggest -- some peace.

"If NATO and the Canadians don't attack our fields, then we won't fight them," said farmer Saddique Mohammad.

However, the peace came with some controversy. In April, NATO ran radio ads in Helmand that appeared to approve of opium cultivation -- much to the annoyance of the Afghan government. The ads were pulled.

Mohammad also said this: "We're not afraid of being arrested. If anybody tries to stop us, we will join the Taliban or Al Qaeda and fight."

The battle against opium poppies, which provide the key ingredient for heroin, is being mainly waged by Afghan government eradication teams.

They have destroyed thousands of hectares, but their reach is limited by the Taliban, who protect poppy fields in exchange for cash.

There is some debate on how best to control poppy production.

U.S. officials had pressured President Hamid Karzai to spray this year's crops with a herbicide, because of a record-breaking harvest in 2006. But Karzai decided against the tactic.

Instead, his cabinet argued poppy fields should be eradicated using non-chemical techniques, such as plowing the fields before they could be harvested.

Herbicides could destroy legal crops, contaminate water and harm residents, Karzai has said.

But he has also said that if the country's poppy production does not show a decline, he will allow spraying in 2008, a western official told The Canadian Press earlier this year.

Poppies are a tough plant that can survive droughts. Poppy resin, the main ingredient in heroin, can keep for years.

Opium also an extremely profitable crop. More than 90 per cent of the world's illegal opium supply comes from Afghanistan, according to a United Nations estimate.

Last year, that amounted to 6,700 tons of poppies, producing about 670 tons of heroin.

Critics say that Canada's hands-off approach to poppy cultivation ignores the reality that the drug trade helps the Taliban pay for weapons and the recruiting of fighters.

"In the south, the vicious circle of drugs funding terrorism and terrorists supporting drug traffickers is stronger than ever," UN Office on Drugs and Crime Executive Director Antonio Maria Costa said in a March press release.

"In other words, opium cultivation in the south of the country is less a narcotic issue and more a matter of insurgency, so it is vital to fight them both together."

And with the harvest now complete, there will be farmers with time on their hands -- and the Taliban who have money to offer them.

With a report from CTV's Steve Chao

 

[McG]

I'm surprised to see that the UN is advocating erredication.  Erradication is only a band-aid solution & it would win us new enemies.  We'd be better off developing alternatives for the farmers or finding a legal market for the current drug crops.

However, it is up to the Afghan government to decide how they want to tackle this.

 

[rmacqueen]

It will be difficult for the Afghan government to resist the pressure of the US who seem stuck on the myopic view of eradication.  There is an opportunity here to convert Afghan farmers to the legitimate cultivation of poppies but narrow minded interests keep getting in the way.  While US pharmaceutical companies cry out for more opium for the production legal drugs, and Australia and France make huge profits from poppy crops, the hypocritical views of many in charge threaten to keep Afghanistan poor and a prime target for terrorist recruitment.  More common sense and less self-righteousness is what is needed

 

[The Bread Guy]

Well, here's some tidbits that show me why eradicating the poppy crop willy-nilly BEFORE providing alternative opportunities is gonna be kind of difficult, from the latest USAID Food Security Update for AFG:

(....)  "In areas of southern Afghanistan where the May and June poppy harvest was good, farmers were able to receive sufficient income from the sale of the crop, and their household food security is good. However, food security is deteriorating for those households that rely on labor migration to Iran and Pakistan for their income and livelihood. Iran continues to deport Afghan laborers, although at a slower pace than was initially expected, and the worsening political situation in Pakistan is negatively affecting job opportunities for Afghans in Pakistan."  (....)

Also gives some perspective on the impact of refugees being pushed out of neighbouring countries:

(....)  "The main food security problem in Afghanistan is a lack of economic access to food rather than food availability ....  (so) the increase in food prices will have a significant negative impact on the purchasing power of most Afghan households.  This decrease in purchasing power will be exacerbated by the scarcity of employment opportunities in Afghanistan, particularly in rural areas. The ongoing deportation of Afghan laborers from Iran is further increasing competition for the already limited income-earning opportunities."  (....)

A bit more here...

- edited to add blog entry -

 

[GAP]

Poppy Irony
Article Link

November 11 is almost upon us and the lapels of Canadians are a virtual bumper crop of poppies. Since the 1920’s Canadians (and citizens of various Commonwealth nations) have been wearing the poppy to symbolize remembrance of the soldiers lost in the 1st world war. Since then, there have been several more wars (conflicts, police actions, etc) and we now wear the poppy to remember all of the brave Canadian soldiers who have paid the ultimate price.

I was thinking about the current situation in Afghanistan and of the job we have sent our troops to do, to help make the country safe, (no debates here about the worth of the mission or whether and when it should end, just the reason we went in the first place.) And then the irony struck me.

Imagine a brand new Afghan immigrant to Canada living through their first Remembrance Day. What do they see Canadians wearing to support their troops? Poppies! Which to them would be symbols, not of remembrance, but of drugs, death, corruption and the Taliban!

It just goes to show that the very same thing, a simple flower in this case, can represent wildly different things to different people.

I wonder if the Canadian troops (or at least the officers) are wearing their poppies this week, and what kind of looks they must be getting from the Afghans they are there to protect.
More on link

 

[WLSC]

Some people realy create problem were their's none.  I'm not a big ''connaisseur'' in flowers, but a dont thing they even look the same : :

 

[George Wallace]

I am also not a connaisseur of flora and fawna, but I am positive that the Red Poppies of Flanders are not at all the same as the Opium Poppies of Asia.

 

[vonGarvin]

How would Afghans react if told that we wear poppies as a sign of remembrance?  They would probably ask why, just as any other person would ask why someone does something that may seem odd.  Once explained, I'm certain that Aghans would smile, nod their heads and say "Ah, that explains it.  Thank you."  After all, Afghans are people, just like you, me and everyone else you meet.

 

[WLSC]

Thanks George !

Maybe someone shoud send him a photo and tell him that yes, we will were them !

 

[medaid]

Indeed! This guy's making little apples into big oranges. Pffft, I wear mine proudly every year. We should direct him to Cbt Camera where they sho troops with poppies on every year.

 

[George Wallace]

If some of these people would do some basic research, such as using Google "Flower, Poppy, Opium" they may come to this site that shows that there are a wide variety of poppies and appearances.

http://www.nickys-nursery.co.uk/seeds/pages/page10pop.htm

 

[JBoyd]

I am also not a connaisseur of flora and fawna, but I am positive that the Red Poppies of Flanders are not at all the same as the Opium Poppies of Asia.

Correct

I have attached a Flanders Field Poppy, Along with a Opium Poppy (which comes in other colors, not just red)

However Opium poppies are not just grown in Asia, they are grown world wide.

Also, they are grown and used for a variety of purposes, from food, to medicine (morphine, thebaine, codeine, papaverine, and noscapine are all extracted from the opium poppy). Keep in mind that Opium also has been used to treat Asthma, stomach illness's and bad eye sight. The opium poppy was also used by the ancient greeks.

So to Green Dude, to judge a flower and its symbolances due to the fact that it can also be used as a narcotic is pure ignorance.

 

[WLSC]

Or maybe, he was talking about 4 legs puppy... ;D  I'm just asking !

 

[ixium]

Just like the swastika, misused by the Nazis, but dates back thousands and thousands of years before they were even thought up.