LEGALIZE AFGHAN POPPY FARMING: COUNCIL

Destruction of Crop Pushes Farmers into Taliban Hands

In Canada, poppies are already associated with war -- or at least with
remembering those who died in service. But this little red wildflower
has a much bigger role in the continuing conflict in
Afghanistan.

The Taliban insurgency is fuelled almost entirely by flower
power.

Afghanistan produces 93 per cent of the world's opium, and 80 per cent
of its heroin, both products of the poppy seed. Most of the money made
from this illegal drug trade is funnelled into the Taliban and used to
purchase weapons and train new members.

In his new plan for Afghanistan, U.S. President Barack Obama has
pledged more troops and a greater focus on development, but he still
favours the destruction of poppy fields. At a forum in Brussels last
month, Richard Holbrooke, America's top envoy to Afghanistan, called
this practice "wasteful and ineffective."

By destroying their only means of income -- the illegal drug trade
accounts for more than half the country's GDP -- Holbrooke said the
eradication of poppy fields is "...pushing farmers into the Taliban's
hands."

A year earlier in a column in the Washington Post, Holbrooke went as
far to say "...[poppy field eradication] may be the single most
ineffective program in the history of American foreign policy. It's
not just a waste of money. It actually strengthens the Taliban and
al-Qaida."

Ridding a country of its primary source of income isn't a sustainable
option, but cutting off the Taliban's funding and quelling an illegal
drug trade are important goals.

The Senlis Council, an international drug policy advisory forum, has
proposed a solution that is gaining some momentum: legalize it.

No, we're not advocating the legalization of opium or heroin, but
legalizing the poppy agriculture in Afghanistan with contracts to use
the opiates to create medicine, like morphine and codeine.

A 2005 study from the International Narcotics Control Board showed
that developing nations, representing 80 per cent of the world's
population, consumed only six per cent of the world's morphine supply.

Opiate-based painkillers are already available and cheap, but many
underprivileged countries import little or none, largely because they
fear the drug will lead to addiction and abuse. Meanwhile, their sick
suffer needlessly.

While these drugs can be highly addictive when used illegally, doctors
in the western world have had great success in treating patients with
opiates, and report low levels of addiction.

With an aggressive education campaign on the benefits and realities of
opiate-based painkillers, developing nations could cause an enormous
swell to the world's demand for poppies.

Those suffering from severe or chronic pain could finally get some
relief, and the farmers of Afghanistan would have a legal market for
their crops.

Of course, a legal poppy trade is no panacea for the problems facing
Afghanistan. Removing the Taliban's primary source of income would be
a major blow, but it must be only one element to a holistic solution.

Military operations will undoubtedly need to continue for the
foreseeable future, but they must coincide with reconstruction efforts
to build the infrastructure necessary for the country to enter the
modern era.

And while undermining the criminal element that runs the opium trade
will help stabilize the country, a strong international presence will
be required to guide Afghanistan toward a stronger democracy.

Earlier this year, Prime Minister Stephen Harper told CNN's Fareed
Zakaria that, "Quite frankly, we are not ever going to defeat the
insurgency."

That, of course, depends on how you define a win in
Afghanistan.

Harper is correct; quite likely there will always be at least a small
faction of people fighting there.

But by cutting off the Taliban's funding, and slowly shifting our
focus from military action to stabilization and reconstruction
efforts, there is every reason to believe that Afghanistan can grow as
a healthy democracy. And that, we'd call a win.