Well known for being one of the most impoverished and dangerous countries in the world, Afghanistan has suffered through many tragic events leading to its current state of turmoil. For decades, it has been the battleground for countless wars resulting in a corrupted and disheveled country. This has led to Afghanistan being dependent on the cultivation of opium and distribution of heroin as a source of economic "stimulus." With "opium and drug production and trafficking accounting for "more than a third" of the nations income, Afghanistan has become reliant on the drug trade to provide jobs and to fund the economy (Maguet and Majeet, 2010, p. 119). This leads to the question, what triggered Afghanistan to be one of the world's greatest opium supplier and how are they able to continue to as the major world provider? With billions of dollars being put towards security against opium cultivation, the lack of governance, the farmers' motives, and the economic incentives keeps Afghanistan at the top of opium market.
Opium Production Boom
Beginning with the Soviet invasion in the 1980s, Afghanistan went through a decade of conflict with the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics leaving them in a state of recession. The war essentially halted their economic growth and development leading to a crippled government and workforce that has continued on to this day. With the loss and displacement of much of their institutions, homes, and citizens, the country was basically left with nothing. Consequently, the majority of the population became jobless and homeless. This is where the production of opium and heroin comes into the picture, as it was seen as an opportunity for the common person to make a living. Although poppy cultivation was traditi...
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...a century, Afghanistan has suffered conflict after conflict, leading it to be one of the poorest countries in the world. Citizens of Afghanistan had to go through extreme measures to provide for themselves and their families, resulting in the participation of the illicit industry of poppy cultivation and heroin production. Due to lacking a source of income, many farmers took this as a chance to earn money as they did not have much repercussions to fear from the government. Economic wise, supplying opium to other countries has contributed a lot to Afghanistan's "wealth," but in doing so, it also helped the Taliban and warlords of Afghanistan gain a large sum of money to fund for their battles. With opium output being at its highest in recent years, similar strategies the Taliban has used need to be implemented again or Afghanistan's opium output will keep expanding.
From the early 1950’s to early 1970’s during U.S. military involvement in Laos, Indochina, opium and heroin were flown by “Air America” into many countries, including Vietnam. As a result of CIA’s drug smuggling, Southeast Asia became the source of 70% of the world’s opium and heroin. South Vietnam was completely corrupted by a heroin trade that came from Laos, thanks to the CIA. The Hmong culture in Laos provided 30,000 men for the CIA's secret Laotian army. But in the process, opium production took over Hmong culture. To support the Hmong economy, the CIA's “Air America” transported raw opium out of the Laotian hills to the labs. By mid-1971, Army medical officers estimated that fifteen percent of American GIs were addicted (Stich 142).
Afghanistan since its beginning has been a place of conflict, despair, and at times lost hope. It has been taken advantage of and lost its sense of identity, which has had a direct effect on its people, and there own sense of what justice truly is.
The dependence on hard core drugs in the United States is on a continuous climb. Heroin is the leading reason for this. Considered by many to be the hardest of hard drugs, thus making heroin a very popular choice among drug addicts. Heroin is a narcotic produced from the opium of the poppy plant and poses a serious risk to society. Since it could be injected, snorted or smoked heroin also causes health complications and the possibility of death. Sadly, none of that matters to an addict because they only want their next fix. A century ago the doctors who developed heroin were only hoping for a way to help patients, they were unaware their new found medicine would lead to decades of addiction, abuse, health problems and even death for many.
Hanes, William Travis, and Frank Sanello. Opium Wars: the Addiction of One Empire and the Corruption of Another. Naperville, IL: Source, 2002. Print.
. “The illegal drug market in the United States is one of the most profitable in the world. As such, it attracts the most ruthless, sophisticated, and aggressive drug traffickers.” Throughout the years drug trafficking has been a major issue in America. These issues have impacted our economy, security, which promote new laws and policies throughout the U.S. and among our boarders. Drug Trafficking has created conflict with other countries such as Mexico. “…criminal groups operating from neighboring Mexico smuggle cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, amphetamine, and marijuana into the United States. These criminal groups have smuggled heroin and marijuana across the Southwest Border and distributed them throughout the United States since the 1970s.” (Policy Almanac).
...es all resulted in failure. The government's failure to suppress drug trade at the international level is due to two reasons: the international drug trade was far too complex and resilient for law enforcement to deal with and and the national security operations in the “drug source countries”, primarily during the Cold War, had seriously undermined the “U.S. Interdiction effort.”18
Throughout this article Wilson shows that as the years past the opium use in China grew substantially:
Dating back to the 19th century Russia had interests in Afghanistan. This was initially due to the expansion of the empire during the Tsarist time period and continued through the Soviets and the spread of socialism. With billions given in both militar...
For decades Afghanistan has been a reservoir for war. From the collapse of the communist government, to the implementation of the Taliban’s extremist views, the country has been ridden with civil war resulting in over 26,000 civilians killed at the expense of the interminable violence. The people of Afghanistan see no end to the barbaric measures that have stripped them of their liberty. While corruption ridden the country’s leaders, the Taliban displays the public slaughter of civilians in order to establish obedience.
Heroin is synthesized from one of these opioids; morphine, an alkaloid contained within opium. Currently, the primary means of obtaining opium is through farming opium producing poppies with countries like Afghanistan contributing the majority of this supply. (Busse & Triggle, 2006)
Drug addiction is a major problem in Iran and is highly affecting the health of its population. Iran’s health has been under the influence of narcotics and addiction for many years, with it leading to the spreading of AIDS and even going as far to affecting the economy, thus, keeping the bridge between the rich and poor unreachable and unmanageable. Being one of the main narcotics Iran has been dealing with throughout the 20th Century, Opium, a reddish-brown heavy-scented addictive drug prepared from the juice of the opium poppy, has been trafficked through the country amassing millions of addicts in its wake. With over 2.8 percent of its population over the age of 15 addicted to it it’s become one of the main problems that leads to the branching out of other drugs. The use of Heroin and other
Afghanistan is like a time capsule. Many people farm for subsistence, and few are able to read or write. Afghans have been compared to Spartans in that they are a martial people who have been at war for thousands of years. The rough terrain in which they live lends itself to long periods of resistance. Time and time again they have been able to push away would be conquerors. The current war in Afghanistan stands in contrast to previous wars because its purpose is not one of conquest for land or for the exploitation of resources. The purpose of the current war in Afghanistan is to win over the Afghan people and to help them grow ideologically to assimilate into an ever more technologically advanced global environment.
Drugs can make an impact on anyone’s life due to the poor decisions that they make. These Afghans do not know about the consequences of using drugs or sharing needles and it will hurt most of them in the end when they have contracted diseases. Since all their money is spent on these drugs, they will have nothing left to live off of. A lack of money will most likely lead to them living on the streets. This can be a very bad thing in the winter, sickness and death are possible outcomes from the weather. This image was taken to show how drugs can affect the environment that they live in and the lifestyle that they lead.
In the past ten years the Afghan Government has been dealing with a number of issues that have caused problems for the country, problems such as illegal drug trade, terrorism and violence. But nowadays they are fighting a problem that has long existed between people, and quite recently has taken a whole new aspect to it. Ethnic conflict is the destructive factor that has caused problems between people for generations, often leading to fights, outbreak of violence and grudge between different ethnicities.
Bangladesh , a small country located in South East Asia, despite not being a major producer or consumer of narcotics has become a major trafficing route due to its geographical placement. Bangladesh is situated in the central point between the ‘golden triangle’ (Myanmar, Thailand and Laos) and the ‘golden crescent’ (Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran) in terms of geographical location. Due to being surrounded on all sides by major drug producing countries and its porous land, sea and air border it is increasingly becoming a major trafficking route for drugs.