RETURN OF THE POPPIES

For every upside, someone once mused, there's a downside. And so it goes
for the international war on drugs, which is already poised for a setback
because of the fall of the Taliban in Afghanistan.

The Taliban had virtually eliminated the growing of opium poppies, ultimate
source of much of the world's heroin. Now, with the Islamic extremists
nearly vanquished, Afghan farmers already are cultivating and fertilizing
their fields in preparation for next spring's beautiful but deadly crop.

Two decades of war and economic and social upheaval in Afghanistan have
left its desperately poor farmers yearning for their old and reliable
source of cash. "I can make 10 times more with poppy than I can with
wheat," one man told the Los Angeles Times. "We know we are creating
addicts. The only reason we are doing this is because we are poor. If I
could find another job, I would stop growing poppies."

Raw opium production dropped from 3,276 tons to only 185 tons in the year
following the Taliban decree of July, 2000, which banned the crop. The
opium had been processed into heroin in neighboring Pakistan, then
distributed throughout the world.

Heroin is a significant problem in Toledo. That means the consequences of
the regime's demise could portend more drugs on the street locally as well
as in other American communities.

The United States and several other countries are making plans to rebuild
Afghanistan's economy to help restore political stability in southwest
Asia. One element of that aid, at least in the short run, ought to be
payments to poor farmers to give them an incentive to give up the
profitable poppy. In the long run, helping to guide a shift to
nonagricultural jobs would be more beneficial. A stable government that
could discourage opium production is a must.

The Afghans have been promised similar help in the past but it did not
materialize, leading to development of the drug trade as a lucrative
survival tool. If the U.S. and other members of the world community do not
open their wallets for economic aid to Afghanistan in an accelerated
fashion, they likely will be paying significant sums anyway to ramp up the
war on drugs along with the sustained battle against terrorism.