IRAQ'S DEADLY NEW EXPORT ; Exclusive ++ Amid the anarchy, farmers begin to grow opium poppies, raising fears that the country could become a major herion supplier

From: The Independent (London, England) | Date: May 23, 2007| Author: | Copyright information

Farmers in southern Iraq have started to grow opium poppies in their fields for the first time, sparking fears that Iraq might become a serious drugs producer along the lines of Afghanistan.

Rice farmers along the Euphrates, to the west of the city of Diwaniya, south of Baghdad, have stopped cultivating rice, for which the area is famous, and are instead planting poppies, Iraqi sources familiar with the area have told The Independent.

The shift to opium cultivation is still in its early stages but there is little the Iraqi government can do about it because rival Shia militias and their ...

Read all of this article with a FREE trial to HighBeam Research

Related newspaper, magazine, and trade journal articles from HighBeam Research

(Including press releases, facts, information, and biographies)

Cottage-Garden Poppies Fall Victim to the War on Drugs
; ...selling seeds of opium poppies to its U.S. customers...voluntarily stop selling opium poppies for garden or...gardeners who grow opium poppies may not even know...interviewed who grow opium poppies, asked to remain...to stop growing opium ...
In quiet corners of the West the crop is opium
; ...countryside are also being used to grow opium poppies - the raw material for heroin...sites in Wiltshire were used to grow opium poppies last year, and 206.06 hectares...Dorset in the West. Anyone can grow opium poppies because the process is not...
Opium being harvested in Westcountry for the NHS
; Opium poppies - the raw ingredient of heroin - are being grown in...Coaker has refused to confirm the exact locations of the opium fields, but admitted up to six sites in Dorset are among...show 206.06 hectares at sites in Dorset were used to grow opium poppies last year. It is also ...
Poppy planters breaking the law.(Knight Ridder Newspapers)
; ...selling seeds of opium poppies to its U.S. customers...voluntarily stop selling opium poppies for garden or...gardeners who grow opium poppies may not even know...interviewed who grow opium poppies, asked to remain...to stop growing opium ...
Opium Yield Drops Only Slightly in Afghanistan
; ...that sharply reduced the amount of land used to grow opium poppies, the U.N. anti-drug chief said Monday. The land...would take 20 years to eradicate cultivation of opium poppies, a mainstay of Afghan farmers despite government...
Cash ban for opium.(News)
; AFGHANISTAN has stopped paying farmers not to grow opium poppies because the policy has failed. But President Hamzai Karzai told UN drugs officers that his government still planned to wipe out heroin production by 2013.
SNARK ATTACK.(Editorial)
; ...there is more news. Patrick Cockburn reports from Baghdad for The Independent. He says Iraqi farmers are starting to grow opium poppies, too, replacing their rice crops. They're learning about the new enterprise from Afghanistan. This is a surge we...
Afghanistan's 'biggest ever' drugs seizure; world news bulletin.(News)
; ...enough to make more than 880 tonnes of heroin, 93% of the world's supply. But officials said farmers who no longer grow opium poppies because of successful eradication programme have turned their fields to cannabis.
Will farmers soon be growing opium?
; Gloucestershire farmers could be asked to grow opium poppies to help supply the medical trade. The poppies have long been used to create powerful painkillers such as diamorphine, and the UK...
Cannabis replaces opium poppies in Afghan area
; ...Tribune 11-05-2007 Cannabis replaces opium poppies in Afghan area Byline: Kirk Semple...Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, was covered with opium poppies - about 11,000 hectares of them, or...many farmers in Balkh switched from opium poppies to crop: cannabis, the illegal herb...