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Date: April 29, 2024 Mon
Time: 9:57 pm
Time: 9:57 pm
Results for opium abuse (afghanistan)
2 results foundAuthor: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime Title: Afghanistan Opium Survey 2010 Summary: This year’s Afghanistan Opium Survey shows that while the total area under cultivation and the number of families growing opium poppy remained the same as in 2009, opium production fell drastically to roughly half of last year’s levels. The cause of the decline in production was a naturally occurring plant disease that affected Afghanistan’s major opium poppy-growing regions this year. Like opium production, the gross export value of Afghan opiates was halved this year. This indicates that the income of Afghan traffickers from the 2010 opium season is also down. But there is cause for concern. The market responded to the steep drop in opium production with an equally dramatic jump in the market price to more than double 2009 levels. Meanwhile, the price of wheat—one of Afghanistan’s principal crop alternatives to opium—has fallen. At current prices, planting opium poppies is six times more profitable than growing wheat. The high price of opium combined with a low wheat price may encourage more farmers to cultivate opium in 2011. The 2010 Survey continues to underscore the linkage between opium poppy cultivation and security in Afghanistan. In areas where there is a government presence and the rule of law prevails, only a few hundred hectares of opium cultivation remain. Twenty provinces are already poppy-free, and with some additional effort, Afghanistan could achieve five more poppy-free provinces next year (Hirat, Kabul, Kunar, Laghman and Zabul). We encourage their governors, the central Government and donors to help these provinces become poppy-free in 2011. Badghis and Zabul have achieved significant reductions, and we encourage efforts to stop the increased cultivation in Badakhshan and Nangarhar to avoid a return to the worrying levels observed in 2007. The significant expansion of cultivation in Kandahar Province over the past two years must also be stopped, and we urge the governor and other partners to play an active role in preventing any further increase and to ensure progress is made in eradication. Further growth in poppy cultivation in Kandahar would have an adverse effect on other provinces as well. Enabling farmers to make a living and support their families by planting licit crops is the most effective way to stop opium poppy cultivation. Providing villages with agricultural assistance encourages the cultivation of licit crops. For the first time this year, we saw a correlation between provision of agricultural assistance and a drop in opium cultivation. Providing farmers with access to markets for their crops also helps keep them away from opium poppy cultivation. In villages that are close to agricultural markets, farmers plant less poppy than in villages with no access to markets. Details: Vienna: UNODC, 2010. 118p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed march 14, 2011 at: http://www.unodc.org/documents/crop-monitoring/Afghanistan/Afghanistan_Opium_Survey_2010_web.pdf Year: 2010 Country: Afghanistan URL: http://www.unodc.org/documents/crop-monitoring/Afghanistan/Afghanistan_Opium_Survey_2010_web.pdf Shelf Number: 120925 Keywords: Drug Abuse and AddictionNarcoticsOpium Abuse (Afghanistan) |
Author: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Title: Afghanistan Opium Survey 2013 Summary: Opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan reached a sobering record high in 2013. According to the 2013 Afghanistan Opium Survey, cultivation amounted to some 209,000 hectares, outstripping the earlier record in 2007 of 193,000 hectares, and representing a 36 per cent increase over 2012. Moreover, two provinces that had previously been declared poppy-free, Faryab and Balkh in northern Afghanistan, lost this status. All in all, opium production in 2013 went up to some 5,500 tonnes, a 49 per cent increase over 2012. The hazard this situation poses to health, stability and development, and not only in Afghanistan, is well documented and has been internationally recognized frequently. At the same time, Afghanistan's counter narcotic institutions, also with the support of UNODC, have taken a significant step forward in terms of capacity and effectiveness. The Ministry of Counter Narcotics has moved quickly to advance policy and guidelines, as per its mandate. The Counter Narcotics Police of Afghanistan is still far from achieving the seizure rate witnessed in other producing countries, but police have nevertheless tripled their effectiveness over recent years to capturing well over 10 per cent of domestic production. The number of arrests, prosecutions and convictions of powerful figures remains a concern, but progress has also been witnessed with two high profile cases this year. Finally, available services in country to deal with a growing addiction problem have expanded from 30 to 90. These are tangible and hopeful signs of improvement. In order to be successful and sustainable, counter-narcotics efforts must finally break out of their insular, silo approach. If the drug problem is not taken more seriously by aid, development and security actors, the virus of opium will further reduce the resistance of its host, already suffering from dangerously low immune levels due to fragmentation, conflict, patronage, corruption and impunity. What is needed is an integrated, comprehensive response to the drug problem, embedded in a long-term security, development and institution-building agenda. Details: Vienna: UNODC, 2013. 117p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 24, 2014 at: http://www.unodc.org/documents/crop-monitoring/Afghanistan/Afghan_Opium_survey_2013_web_small.pdf Year: 2013 Country: Afghanistan URL: http://www.unodc.org/documents/crop-monitoring/Afghanistan/Afghan_Opium_survey_2013_web_small.pdf Shelf Number: 132160 Keywords: Drug Abuse and AddictionNarcoticsOpium Abuse (Afghanistan) |