SEEDS OF DESTRUCTION

IN North America, the War on Drugs is a figurative phrase. But
directly connected to that, in Afghanistan, the war against poppy
production is very literal.

Perhaps not surprisingly, we have not been winning on either
front.

Afghanistan produces about 90 per cent of the world's opium in a
multi-billion dollar poppy crop. In recent years, Western nations have
spent untold sums trying to stop its production

But a report from the United Nations this week paints a picture of
poppy cultivation in Afghanistan's troubled south, where about 123,000
hectares were planted last year, as relatively stable -- and likely to
increase.

Yes, opium production did recently drop -- but only because of a
fungal disease that damaged the poppy plants. That, in turn, has
driven the price up.

And it turns out, the number of poppy fields being cultivated has
everything to do with the price of opium, and very little to do with
international disincentive programs.

Poppies currently fetch six times the price of wheat in Afghanistan.
In areas of the country where poverty is horrific and social programs
nonexistent, it's not hard to see why poppies continue to bloom. For
desperately poor people, the need to provide food and shelter will
always outweigh moral arguments or the threat of prosecution.

Ironically, our own War on Drugs only serves to keep the price of
opium poppies high, thereby guaranteeing fresh blooms in the fields
come planting time.