Afghanistan: Buy The Dope

[fellowtraveller]

Then burn it. Or most of it, keep some for the chronically scarce legitimate opiates markets....

The economy of Afghanistan is centered around the growing of poppies. The money garnered from this activity is essential to the fortunes of both the farmers and the Taliban. The farmers need the $ to feed their families, the Taliban need the $ to kill the farmers and enslave their women/children.

If the West spent, say, a few billion per year buying the crop in a very controlled way- a pittance compared to the costs of warfare - wouldn't they provide an ongoing and absolutely essential pillar to the economy, and cut the Taliban off at the knees?

Remember this fact when contemplating the future in Afghanistan: the country has virtually no resources and is unlikely to find any in our lifetimes. No oil, no minerals, no ports, little agriculture, an uneducated populace. Just poppies. How will they survive when the West retreats, as we will inevitably?

It is a win-win solution......

[Cameron]

I wonder what type of quality controls they have in place for getting the drugs to market?

[geoffrey]

A few of the Liberal candidates are talking about a sort of small business inititive... get the farmers alternative incomes to poppy farming.

Not attacking the opiate trade with opportunities will be a failure to this mission. You can kill hundreds of Taliban, but when they are paying small fortunates to fight the Canadians, we have little chance. Cut off their money, and you cut of their support.

More aid and more military power is needed.

[blueblood]

A few of the Liberal candidates are talking about a sort of small business inititive... get the farmers alternative incomes to poppy farming.

Not attacking the opiate trade with opportunities will be a failure to this mission. You can kill hundreds of Taliban, but when they are paying small fortunates to fight the Canadians, we have little chance. Cut off their money, and you cut of their support.

More aid and more military power is needed.

Yah throw in some Frontline 2-4D and some Roundup to take care of those poppies

[fellowtraveller]

More aid and more military power is needed.

Yah throw in some Frontline 2-4D and some Roundup to take care of those poppies

Hurling soldiers at the situation won't solve the long term economic problems of Afghanistan. There is nothing much to rebuild. Spraying crops won't do anything but make even more people dependent on aid.

In a nation with no traditional jobs now or ever, the the Taliban pay $12 per day to fight for them, the national police pay $4, the national army pays $1 per day. The Taliban paydays come from the sale of drugs, so why don't we just outbid them for the dope?

Problem solved, they won't have anybody willing to fight for free and a big link in narcotrade will be pinched off.

Would you rather send our kids to be killed in an unwinnable war, or just send the money and actually achieve something?

[Topaz]

The Taliban in 2000 had cut the dope trade down to 90%, they were against, and then the US invaded and its started back up again. So if it was done once, the country can lower it again but the war must stop and let peace bring the people back to a normal life.

[fellowtraveller]

Nope.

The only thing the Taliban have 'been against' regarding the drug trade is competition against their control. It funds their very existence.

I agree the war should stop, but now perhaps you can explain how the billions from the drug trade - which ultimately provides daily bread for many Afghans - will be replaced in the economy?

Please don't provide platitudes about small business and resource development. There are no resources of consequence, and likely never will be any.

By the way, Afghanistan has been a supplier of drugs to the West for several decades. At one time it was high quality hashish, but the New Age has brought much better profit margins on opiates.

[MightyAC]

At one time it was high quality hashish, but the New Age has brought much better profit margins on opiates.

If the soil can support poppies and cannabis couldn't it also support some food and cash crops?

Your plan has farmers growing poppies and the west buying and burning them. In the end the farmers are wasting their time and we are simply handing them cash.

A much better solution would be to subsidize the production of any useful crop. It would cost us less and be much more beneficial to the Afghan people.

[fellowtraveller]

At one time it was high quality hashish, but the New Age has brought much better profit margins on opiates.

If the soil can support poppies and cannabis couldn't it also support some food and cash crops?

In the end the farmers are wasting their time and we are simply handing them cash.

A much better solution would be to subsidize the production of any useful crop. It would cost us less and be much more beneficial to the Afghan people.

Yes, of course it can support other cropscan - but what crop could possibly replace the extraordinary price of opium?

Answer: none.

Remember too that Afghanistan has very very little arable land.

"Your plan has farmers growing poppies and the west buying and burning them." Yes, correct. Currently, the Taliban has farmers growing poppies, and the West buys them. The Taliban uses the profits to subjugate their own people and kill our soldiers. They need to be taken out of the equation, and buying the opium will do just that. Without that money, they are pooched.

There is absolutely no 'useful crop' that will supplant opium for sheer profit. That is why it is grown, obviously. There is also a chronic shortage of legimate supply of opiates to the medical industry of the West.

The point of this proposal is twofold: mainly to cut the Taliban off at the knees. With no money they cannot hire more soldiers and cannot control the citizens. Secondly, it replaces the income lost by the farmers.

[Figleaf]

Afghanistan: Buy The Dope Then burn it.

You mean like in a pipe?

[Figleaf]

At one time it was high quality hashish, but the New Age has brought much better profit margins on opiates.

If the soil can support poppies and cannabis couldn't it also support some food and cash crops?

Maybe. Marijuana and poppies can grow in quite infertile conditions.

But it's probably not economical to try food and other crops ... drugs are one of the few agricultural products in which third world countries don't face unfavorable trading practices from the wealthier countries.

[Black Dog]

Some Canadian troops are (allegedly) doing their part to reduce the supply of drugs in Afghanistan by doing shitloads themselves.

An Edmonton soldier recently returned from a tour in Afghanistan admitted that drug use is common in the Canadian military, both at home and overseas.

“You’re constantly surrounded by it,” he said, speaking on the condition of anonymity. “You’re finding narcotics everywhere. It’s a huge temptation. I know people that were buying drugs straight from ANP [Afghan National Police] officers.”

Last year, the military began drug-testing its personnel bound from Afghanistan. And last month, CTV Newsnet and other media outlets began citing unconfirmed reports that the number of soldiers testing positive for illegal drugs such as marijuana, cocaine and heroin could be as high as 30 per cent.

[MightyAC]

If the soil can support poppies and cannabis couldn't it also support some food and cash crops?

In the end the farmers are wasting their time and we are simply handing them cash.

A much better solution would be to subsidize the production of any useful crop. It would cost us less and be much more beneficial to the Afghan people.

Yes, of course it can support other cropscan - but what crop could possibly replace the extraordinary price of opium?

Answer: none.

You're missing my point... If your plan is for the west to burn the crop anyway it doesn't make sense to grow it in the first place. The price that any useful crop would fetch is of little consequence if the west replaces their income in the form of subsidies. Any useful food or cash crop would fetch some money for the farmer, be of use to the Afghan people and make sure the land is not being used for drug production.

[fellowtraveller]

If the soil can support poppies and cannabis couldn't it also support some food and cash crops?

In the end the farmers are wasting their time and we are simply handing them cash.

A much better solution would be to subsidize the production of any useful crop. It would cost us less and be much more beneficial to the Afghan people.

Yes, of course it can support other cropscan - but what crop could possibly replace the extraordinary price of opium?

Answer: none.

You're missing my point... If your plan is for the west to burn the crop anyway it doesn't make sense to grow it in the first place. The price that any useful crop would fetch is of little consequence if the west replaces their income in the form of subsidies. Any useful food or cash crop would fetch some money for the farmer, be of use to the Afghan people and make sure the land is not being used for drug production.

Actually, I believe that it is you who misses the point - which is 'why does the poppy trade exist'?.

The farmers cannot grow 'any useful food or cash crop', because there simply is no other crop that can create the large amount of absolutely essential cash in the Afghan 'economy'. Know this: the poppy is going to be grown regardless of what happens. That is an inescapable reality. The genie is NOT going back in the bottle. The issue is : who will take the profit, and what will happen with the money?

At present, the Taliban are middlemen, and fund their operations with the money. It would be relatively simple to outbid them, to supplant them, and to essentially eliminate their role in Afghan society. Is that not an extremely desireable outcome? Why do you think that the Taliban are enjoying a resurgence? Follow the money for an easy and obvious - but no less true- answer.

If you understand that Afghanistan will never repeat never be capable of standing on their own hind legs economically, and that the drug trade will never go away - then thinking outside the box for a compromise solution - like buying the poppy crop - makes some sense. And will save a lot of lives.