Pubdate: Sat, 12 May 2007 Source: Toronto Star (CN ON) Copyright: 2007 The Toronto Star Contact: http://www.thestar.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/456 Author: Rosie DiManno HOOKED ON POPPY'S POWER It's Hard To Wean Afghanistan's Poor Farmers From Only Crop That Pays With Toxic Results KANDAHAR - At the only heroin treatment clinic in the province, the Addiction Recovery Symposium comes to order. One after another, men step to the podium -- young men, old men, crippled men -- telling their stories of salvation and offering thanks to Allah. Islam can be a powerful proscription against the ruinous narcotic. It all belies the fallacy that drug addiction is strictly a Western problem, Afghanistan merely the bountiful cornucopia for poppy production. Though it catastrophically is that, too: A 59 per cent increase in opium cultivation last year over 2005, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, giving Afghanistan the dubious distinction of having a near monopoly on the world heroin market. Ninety-two per cent of global opium production is contained within this country's borders, a spike from 87 per cent in 2005, now encompassing 28 provinces, but with the most fertile poppy basket still in the five southern states, especially neighbouring Helmand province. Where the poppy grows most lushly, resistance to law and order is fiercest. And, while NATO troops are not directly involved in Afghanistan's poppy eradication efforts (though the United States and Britain heavily fund it), the blowback commonly falls on foreign soldiers, including Canadians, who find themselves targeted for attack when they venture into those lawless areas. Opium equals money equals power equals neo-Taliban financing. When the Taliban ruled, opium production fell drastically, was very nearly eliminated, with even Washington grudgingly impressed. Of course, that was done at the point of a gun and worse. Further, as became evident afterwards, the Taliban had stockpiled massive amounts of opium, purposely driving up the world price and enjoying those riches even after the regime was deposed by a U.S.-led coalition in 2001. The financial bottom line is that opium alternatives remain unattractive. As well, many farmers, little more than serfs in bondage, are forced to grow poppy by drug lords and Taliban militants. After all, it's not as if their own government or donor nations have offered appealing options. Saifullah Agha, 48, laughs heartily when asked why he continues to grow poppy. "Do you think this amount is enough to support a family? I have six sons and three daughters. Do you think it's enough to buy seeds for the field? Do you think it's enough to buy fuel and to fix the wells?" Agha expresses a common sentiment, and one regrettably based on truth. "What a stupid policy this government has. They stress the poppy issue but they close their eyes to the real corruption and the drug lords who are at the highest level of government." Mohammad Daud Daud, deputy interior minister in charge of the anti-drug effort, is a former warlord accused by an Afghan senator of being a drug trafficker himself. Last year, the governor of Helmand, Mohammad Daud, was fired for his alleged links to the drug trade. Production of opium -- the raw ingredient of heroin -- had risen 49 per cent to 6,700 tonnes, or 42 per cent of Afghanistan's poppy crop, according to the United Nations. The hypocrisy that runs hand in glove with the corruption has further fuelled bitterness towards Kabul, particularly in regions that have seen little evidence of promised reconstruction despite billions in aid pouring into the country. If nothing else, the poppy is reliable. "The money we earn from the poppy, I can feed my family for a whole year," points out Haji Niyamatullah, a 45-year-old farmer in Pashmul. "If I didn't grow the poppy, how would we live in this materialistic world, in this unmerciful environment, under this corrupt government?" Niyamatullah acknowledges that the poppy as opiate runs contrary to Islam. "But tell me another way to live in this greedy world. The government can't help us in order to do another business." Various voices have recommended licensing opium rather than eradicating it -- buying up the crop for the production of morphine and codeine for medical purposes. But that would only account for a small portion of Afghanistan's poppy crop. Further, as argued by officials with the country's ever-escalating poppy eradication campaign, a patina of legitimacy for opium cultivation would bludgeon Afghanistan's democratization objectives. "Not feasible," flatly declares Gul Mohammad Shukran, co-ordinator of the Kandahar office for the Ministry of Counter-Narcotics. "That would only encourage further poppy cultivation. And how many metric tonnes of opium would they buy for these medical purposes, 5,000? That's not even 5 per cent of what's grown. "In the end, what's needed is to replace all the illegal crop." There are two poppy eradication programs in Afghanistan. However, this season's bumper crop is unprecedented in its vastness, with far more "standing poppy" in surveyed villages than a year ago. In other words, they've bulldozed more than ever but there's still more than ever out there. A sharp criticism of the eradication programs is that they have targeted almost exclusively the small and powerless farmer. Shukran disputes this. "There is not a single case where it can be shown that we have ignored influential cultivators. We eradicate without any discrimination." Shukran grants that it is immensely difficult to wean Afghan farmers off the poppy. "These are poor and jobless people. We are doing our part and meeting all of our targets. But the problem is that there are no alternative programs for the farmers, because it has been slow reactivating other government departments such as the ministry of agriculture." It would be insanity for foreign troops to get drawn into this mess. It's equally deranged, says Shukran, for Westerners to promote the poppy as a meritorious crop, if judiciously handled. While it may have healing properties as morphine, it is overwhelmingly toxic -- to Afghan society, governance and nascent democratic ideals. At the Kandahar clinic, men who've beaten the demon lift their hands and pray. - --- MAP posted-by: Derek