PUSHING AFGHANISTAN'S POPPY POTENTIAL

OTTAWA -- March 2, 2007 -- An international think-tank says Canada
should help improve Afghanistan's rural development by legitimizing
the country's booming opium trade.

A year's income for an Afghan farmer.

Canada's leading role in Afghanistan's reconstruction means it can be
an important player in the licensing of the opium trade, especially as
it becomes increasingly clear that poppy eradication is not the
solution to the problem of opium production in Afghanistan, according
to the Senlis Council.

"Now that Canada has extended its mission in southern Afghanistan,
they have to look at the problems that local Afghans are facing and
find practical solutions," says Almas Zakhilwal, country manager for
the Senlis Council in Canada. "Current counter-narcotics policies are
risking mission failure in Afghanistan and putting the lives of
Canadian soldiers at risk."

Afghanistan's opium production accounts for more than 90 per cent of
the world's total illegal output. The opium is sold on the black
market for drugs such as heroin, with revenue used by the Taliban to
fund their insurgent operations. Some of the money also falls into the
hands of criminals, contributing to the security problem in
Afghanistan.

Because of the danger the opium trade is creating for allied forces,
anti-drug strategies have focused on eliminating opium poppy
production in Afghanistan. Fields of poppies have been destroyed and
Afghan farmers have lost their livelihoods.

But the Senlis Council points to Turkey as an example of how the
situation in Afghanistan can be changed.

In the 1960s, Turkey was one of the world's largest producers of
illegal opium. When the U.S. demanded the complete eradication of
poppy crops, the Turkish government refused to comply fearing a
domestic political and economic backlash .

Opium comes from the unripened pods of the poppy flower.

After intense negotiations, in 1974, the U.S. and the UN agreed to
license poppy cultivation to produce morphine, codeine and other legal
opiates. Factories were built for production and farmers registered to
grow poppies and pay taxes. Within four years, this strategy
successfully brought the country's illegal poppy crisis under control.

The U.S. still supports the Turkish program, even requiring U.S. drug
companies to purchase 80 per cent of their narcotic raw materials from
the two traditional producers of opium, Turkey and India.

"If a licensing scheme worked in Turkey, why not in Afghanistan?" says
Zakhilwal.

The Senlis Council plan for a licensed opium trade in Afghanistan sees
Canada filling the same role for Afghan opium that the U.S. does for
the Turkish crop. In particular, Canada would be responsible for
supporting and implementing a village-based poppy-for-medicine program
in Afghanistan, says Zakhilwal. Once the program is in place, Canada
would be encouraged to sign an opium trade agreement with Afghanistan,
similar to the U.S. agreement with Turkey.

But the Canadian government has no interest in the
idea.

"The Afghan government has rejected the legalization of the opium
trade," says Ambra Dickie, a spokesperson for the Department of
Foreign Affairs and International Trade. "They don't feel it's the
answer for the problem and the Canadian government supports the
decision of the Afghan government."

The Canadian government does support the Afghan National Drug Control
Strategy, to eliminate the production, consumption and trafficking of
illicit drugs in Afghanistan, says Dickie. Although Canada does not
provide money for the program, it is committed to helping Afghanistan
strengthen law enforcement and implement drug control activities, she
says.

Opium isn't just used to make illegal drugs. Find out about some other
substances that are made from opium.

Despite such a firmly negative response from the government, the
Senlis Council still hopes for Canadian involvement in the licensing
of the opium trade in Afghanistan.

Several MPs, including Liberal leader Stephane Dion and deputy leader
Michael Ignatieff, have been contacted and Zakhilwal says they support
the project. They understand that the proposal is something that could
benefit Canada immensely, he says.

"There will not be any economic, health or other benefits to Canada,"
says Zakhilwal. "But Canada is spending millions of dollars on
military operations in Afghanistan and spending millions of dollars in
aid. The sooner they stabilize the country the sooner they can leave
Afghanistan.

The Senlis Council is an international policy think-tank with offices
in London, Paris, Brussels, Kabul and Ottawa.

The group concentrates on foreign policy, security, development and
counter-narcotics policies. Its current focus in Afghanistan is the
relationships between counter-narcotics, military and development
policies and their impact on Afghanistan's reconstruction efforts.

The recently-opened Ottawa office is staffed by four people who will
focus mainly on lobbying the federal government to support licensing
the opium trade in Afghanistan.

Growing poppies (Papaver somniferum) is not illegal unless the
gardener harvests opium from the plant. Most varieties of poppies can
be ordered from seed catalogues.

To harvest opium, the unripe pods of the poppy flower are scored with
a sharp blade.

A milky white residue is excreted and dries as a sticky brown resin.
The resin can then be scraped off the pod and used in a variety of
ways.

Opium can be manufactured into morphine, codeine and other legal
opiates, as well as illgeal opiates, such as heroin.

A village-based poppy-for-medicine program links two of Afghanistan's
most valuable resources: poppy cultivation and strong local village
control systems.

The key feature of the model is that village-cultivated poppies would
be transformed into codeine and morphine tablets in Afghan villages.
The entire production process, from seed to medicine tablet, can be
controlled by the village in conjunction with government and
international actors. All of the economic profits remain in the
village, allowing for economic diversification.