Opium production soars: the UK foreign affairs committee on international terrorism has delivered a disturbing report on Afghanistan's drug trade, which reveals the country's cultivation of poppies, already the highest in the world in 2003, will increase even further this year.(AFGHANISTAN)

From: The Middle East | Date: October 1, 2004| Author: Willems, Peter | Copyright information

WITH THE GOVERNMENT HAVING little control outside Kabul, and farmers choosing the most profitable crop, opium production has flourished since the Taliban regime was ousted in late 2001. In 2003, over 80,000 hectares were used for poppy cultivation and the country produced 3,600 tons of opium--up from 185 tons in 2001--taking up 75% of the world market. The drug trade accounts for half of the country's gross domestic product (GDP).

When British Prime Minister Tony Blair s...

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