Just over a year before NATO troops pull out of Afghanistan, and after over a decade of counternarcotics initiatives, the United Nations Office On Drugs and Crimes (UNODC) released a report on Wednesday indicating poppy cultivation had spiked from 2012 and showed no sign of abatement.
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Since the U.S.-led invasion ousted the Taliban regime in 2001, a war on opium production has been waged by coalition and Afghan officials parallel to their war on the insurgency. That fight, just like the one against the Taliban, has seen many ups and downs. But as the end of the NATO combat mission draws near, this year's poppy cultivation suggests eradication efforts may have all been in vain.
In comparison to 2012, UNODC and the Afghan Ministry of Counter Narcotics reported on Wednesday that poppy production was up 36 percent.
A record 209,000 hectares of land was used for poppy farming in 2013, surpassing the previous peak of 193,000 hectares in 2007. This trend is especially discouraging for past and present eradication initiatives when put in the context that only 8,000 hectares were documented as being used for poppy in 2001.
Host Omid Farooqi discusses the topic with the following guests:
• Hashim Wahdat, MP
• Fatema Aziz, MP
• Abdul Rahim Ayoubi, MP