TAKING THE BLOOM OFF TALIBAN

Defeating the Taliban requires unconventional measures, for they are
an unconventional foe. One way to undermine their presence in
Afghanistan would be to buy up Afghanistan's poppy harvest.

Last year, the Taliban earned approximately $100 million from the
opium trade -- Afghanistan typically grows more than 90 per cent of
the world's opium poppies. Bereft of strong government and stability,
it is likely to do so well into the future despite the best efforts of
NATO to eradicate poppy cultivation.

If NATO were to purchase the bulk of Afghan poppy production, the
benefits would be huge:

- - Afghan farmers could continue to turn a profit from poppies which,
despite inflated food prices, still bring in triple the value of wheat
crops.

- - Western countries could recoup their investment by selling the opium
to legitimate drug companies for production of narcotics like codeine
and morphine.

- - Prices for illicit opiates like heroin and opium would skyrocket,
putting them beyond the reach of many addicts and forcing criminal
syndicates out of business.

- - And drug lords in Afghanistan, including al-Qaeda, would have less
cash with which to fund jihad against our troops.

Legal poppy production would free Afghan farmers from the intimidation
of drug lords and prove a boon to the country's withered economy and
the world at large.

According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Afghan
poppy production decreased by 19 per cent in 2008 while the number of
provinces blighted by opium production diminished from 18 to 13 as
wheat cultivation has risen in response to soaring food prices.
However, opium crop yields increased by more than six kilograms per
hectare this year and production has outpaced demand for the third
year in a row.

Global prices have not fallen appreciably, suggesting that
narco-merchants are holding back supplies.

A more innovative solution than playing catch-up to the traffickers is
needed.

This editorial first appeared in the Calgary Herald.