AFGHANISTAN'S OPIUM POPPY ACREAGE TRIPLES SINCE 2003

WASHINGTON - More than three years after a pro-U.S. government was
installed, Afghanistan has been unable to contain opium poppy
production and is ``on the verge of becoming a narcotics state,'' a
presidential report said Friday.

The report said the area in Afghanistan devoted to poppy cultivation
last year set a new record of 206,700 hectares, more than triple the
figure for 2003.

The Afghan narcotics situation ``represents an enormous threat to
world stability,'' the report said.

Opium poppy is the raw material for heroin.

The massive study, covering the illicit narcotics situation in 2004 in
virtually all countries, was transmitted to the Congress by Secretary
of State Condoleezza Rice on behalf of President Bush.

Colombia remains a major drug country, the report said, despite
impressive progress against narcotics trafficking.

It credited Colombia's public security forces with preventing hundreds
of tons of illicit drugs from reaching the world market through
interdiction, spraying of coca and poppy crops and manual
eradication.

The United States has been a major counterdrug partner of Colombia,
having contributed billions of dollars to the effort since 2000.

Colombia is the source of more than 90 percent of the cocaine and 50
percent of the heroin entering the United States, the report said.

In Afghanistan, ``Dangerous security conditions make implementing
counternarcotics programs difficult,'' the report said.

Also contributing to the situation is the destruction resulting from
25 years of conflict, the lack of legitimate income streams, and the
limited enforcement capacity of the national government, the report
said.