Pubdate: Tue, 17 Jun 2003
Source: Associated Press (Wire)
Copyright: 2003 Associated Press
Author: Zarar Khan, Associated Press Writer

PAKISTANI DRUG ADDICTS AWAIT AFGHAN CROP

KARACHI, Pakistan - Murad Ali injects Valium into his left arm in broad 
daylight near an open sewer in Karachi, cursing his fate for not being able 
to afford the stronger stuff he craves - heroin.

Ali, an addict in his late 20s, hasn't been able to afford heroin for the 
past year, largely because of a steep jump in prices after Afghanistan 
(news - web sites)'s hardline Taliban regime all but eliminated poppy 
production in the last year of its reign.

But, heroin production is rising in Afghanistan following the ouster of the 
Taliban, despite efforts by the new government to crack down on production. 
This year - after the best poppy harvest in 18 months - Afghanistan is 
again expected to be the world's No. 1 producer of opium with a harvest of 
more than 4,000 tons, according to a U.N. survey.

But that heroin still hasn't been processed, and it hasn't reached the 
streets of Karachi.

About 1.5 grams of low-quality heroin powder now sells for up to $1.60 on 
Karachi streets, up from 35 cents a year ago. While cheap by Western 
standards, it's a lot of money for Pakistan's poor.

"The stuff is hardly coming, and at a high price too," said a Karachi drug 
pusher operating in the old neighborhood of Lyari. He spoke on condition 
his name not be used.

Authorities say they have helped keep prices high by aggressively stopping 
cross-border trafficking, but they acknowledge they don't stop all of it.

"Afghanistan has a bumper poppy crop this year," said Brigadier Liaquat 
Toor of the army-led Anti Narcotics Force of Pakistan. "This is going to 
affect Pakistan."

Added Ejaz Hashmi, a police official involved in anti-narcotics efforts in 
Karachi: "Very strict vigilance is going on at the border and security 
agencies at several level are operating. Trafficking has been curbed to a 
great extent, but it can't be stopped altogether."

Pakistan is not only a key route for the international narcotics smuggling 
from Afghanistan, but is also a big market - with its estimated four 
million drug addicts.

It is also a poppy producer, despite a massive crackdown on farmers in the 
country's lawless tribal region neighboring Afghanistan.

In 2001, Pakistan managed to wipe out poppy cultivation, but high market 
prices of drugs attracted many farmers to resume production of the banned 
crop, said Thomas Zeindil, Pakistan's chief of the United Nations (news - 
web sites) Drug Control Program, or UNDCP,.

"Onions and vegetables cannot get them (farmers) the price they can get 
from poppy," Zeindil said.

Salim Azam, a doctor in Karachi, said high production of opium and heroin 
in Afghanistan could have a silver lining for Pakistani addicts - who have 
increasingly been sharing syringes to cut costs, leading to an alarming 
rise in diseases such as hepatitis and AIDS (news - web sites).

Azam, of the Pakistan Society, an aid organization engaged in addict 
rehabilitation, said many addicts have switched to injectable tranquilizers 
or sedatives easily available on the local market.

"This is one positive aspect I am seeing in the high production of opium 
and heroin in Afghanistan," he said. "We can treat and rehabilitate the 
heroin addicts but the spread of hepatitis is more dangerous."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom