DRUGS DRYING UP

In Afghanistan, poppies that provide opium for heroin are withering and
losing their value

RODAT, Afghanistan -- A drought that is gripping Afghanistan is wrecking
fields of poppies, the flower that provides the opium for heroin.

United Nations officials say the severe water shortage has left many poppy
plants shriveled and valueless in the world's leading opium-producing
country.

UN officials hope production will be down from last year's record 4,500
tons, which was more than all other opium-producing countries combined.

Opium and processed heroin from Afghanistan reap millions of dollars on the
streets of New York, London and Paris.

For the farmers of Afghanistan, it barely brings a few hundred dollars a
year. Yet for many in the country devastated by 20 years of civil war, there
are no other crops that can earn as much. The country is now controlled by
the Taliban, a religious group.

Afghanistan is barely surviving. Irrigation systems are in ruins, and roads
are ravaged by fighting. The economy is in shambles and has a currency that
even Afghans don't want to buy.