MORE DRUGS, FEWER NARCS

Though the global drug trade is heating up, expect a lighter U.S.
enforcement presence on the streets. The White House's Office of
National Drug Control Policy estimates that opium production in
Afghanistan, which not only provides 90% of the heroin consumed
globally but also funds Taliban activities, rose 61% last year over
2005. Some 670 tons of heroin are expected to flood the market, and
that should slash the street price of a kilo of Southwest Asian
heroin, now about $90,000 in Los Angeles. Yet the U.S. Drug
Enforcement Agency (DEA), which annually loses some 3% of its 5,000
agents to attrition, has a two-year hiring freeze because of budget
cuts to U.S. programs. DEA bean counters say they would need an
additional $12 million to maintain current agent levels. The DEA's
overseas funding has increased, but overall, DEA chief financial
officer Frank Kalder admits, "there will be less drug enforcement
going on. There's no getting around that."

General James Jones, who worked in Afghanistan, calls the cuts
"astounding." But other experts think it's wasteful to crack down on
drug dealers without reducing drug use. In other words, manage both
sides of the problem. Narcs or not, the new crop hits streets this spring.