While we're in Afghanistan why not destroy the poppy fields which supply most of the drugs in the UK?

Question

Heroin, sourced from Afghanistan, is ruining the lives of thousands of our people. Why dont we destroy the poppy fields while we're there?

Answer 1

Because they're the livelihood of a lot of people in that country. You cannot invade a country and destroy the crops, even those that produce hard drugs without establishing a suitable alternative means for the population to support themselves.

Answer 2

You know what? I am an Afghan and I know the story fully.

You can’t destroy them because the poppy cultivated areas are mostly controlled by Taliban and their support allies (Punjabis from Pakistan), and Heroin is a great business for many of American Generals serving in Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, President Karzai of Afghanistan does not want to destroyed lands of his fellow pashtons, otherwise if it is left in the hands of former commanders of National United Front (Northern Allies), they will be cleaning up the lands in days time.

In fact unfortunately the situation is not the same as you see.

That is not true at all that some people here are saying that poppy is the only income for Afghanistan, or financially supporting Afghanistan, poppy is only supporting terrorism in the region and inject money to pockets of American generals.

Americans have installed this generator to fuel their invasion justification machine.

Answer 3

Good question, and one that i have wondered about myself.

i think there are many reasons,

however without fire bombing the sites which are vast in size it would just be imposible. if this type of weapon was used it would also kill many innocent people. (which i'm not against if it will help to defeat a greater evil).

But poppys will grow anywhere, and they will grow fast, they will just come back. you can't posion the soil - because it would then be useless and nothing could be grown.

yes - does bring some income, however 90% of the money created from drugs is outside of the country. the problem will never go away, because even if you kill all of the warloads which control the drugs in afghanistan - others will come and take their place.

Answer 4

Are you completely nuts? The juice from the poppies is the only income the farmers of Afghanistan have. It's not their fault that this innocent 'juice' is turned into one of the world's most deadly narcotics, heroin.

All anyone ever need do is to pay the Afghan farmers not to grow the poppy. Okay, realistically I know that even if we paid them not to grow the poppy, they would probably take our money and grow the poppy anyway. Why, because they would be ordered so to do by the drug barons back in the White-house.

Did you notice that while the Taliban were in control of Afghanistan the poppy was not grown? Soon as the Afghans got 'democracy' they began growing the poppy again. Can't blame them for that.

Answer 5

It would toss the world demand into the Golden Triangle.The combination of a shortage of poppy, and the influx of millions of dollars, rubles, pesos, etc, into the region would destabilize an area already boiling with criminal intent, militias, corrupt Governments, and international cartels of every stripe, Thailand would never be the same. China white would skyrocket on the world market, and crime would follow to allow addicts to purchase the higher priced horse. Besides, with control of the poppy in and out of Afghanistan, we control , or have a say , in the activities of all these criminal cartels. We also can load tons of narcotics into places we don't care for, such as Iran, and N'Korea. We can pacify some parts of Pakistan, and the Cashmere were opiate use is not so illegal. We can deny illegal profit by the Taliban, and Al Queda and keep it. We still need morphine. By controlling the economics of the trade, we profit, by attempting to destroy it we become a victim of it. Every Government on earth has stated that it wants to eliminate the narcotics trade, and the trade has outlasted all of them. As they say don't be a dope.

Answer 6

Yes, I agree with you.As for the others saying it's their living what would they do.?
What about the devastation to millions of people all over the world this vile evil substance causes.
There must be something else they can do as a country.? What did they do before they started exporting this so called juice.? Anyway the farmers are kept on a pittance, it's those further up the ladder that are the serious earners.

Answer 7

it really is a tricky question for all of us to respond to. the precedence is there are thousands of farmers in Aghanistan who advance the poppy because there is any such call for for it, and it really is the in elementary words habitable source of earnings for those farmer, because it really is complicated land to advance the different flowers. If the poppy fields are destroyed, then those farmers and their kinfolk would haven't got any source of earnings. the in elementary words answer is to compensate those farmers for the loss of their flowers in case you smash it. yet this would value thousands and thousands and ought to be paid each and each year. that's what the precedence is, and no individual has arise with an answer to it yet. perhaps after the crop has been Harvested, then at the same time as it really is offered on to be processed into Opium etc. it will be intercepted and destroyed then.

Answer 8

45 percent of afgan income comes from the poppy,
look in the background of the poppy fields [all the grass is cropped down by thier goats /donkeys ,they cant eat the poppies ,because its inedible [there is no fencing either to keep them out ]
so then we kill all the popy and put up fences and grow another crop [this is restricted in that there arnt the roads nor trucks nor storage fascilities to cart anything they could grow to market
then we have that drugs have long been sold by the security agencies to pay for foreign wars , secret missions ets [these will then have to be paid for as well 20 billion just for the security , 2 billion just for basic fencing , 12 billion for infastructure transport storage and extra policing
the secret rendition flights have made guarentee of supply ,

part of the reasoning for going into afganastan was to secure the drug trade ,thus any one thinking to end the poppy trade any time soon is clearly dreaming
i suggest we buy the drugs off the farmers direct ,lay off this stupid war on drug users and let the intel agencies pay thier way via licenced local dealers
have quality standards and let the drug war prisoners free ,so we can lock up [for longer ]the real evil murderers ,rapists ,thieves , fraudsters and buisness ''leaders '' ripping off billions from the citisenry ,focus the drug police on the rip off merchants ,

set them to protect civilians not incarcerate them in the privatised prisons ,that are the fastest growth industry and giving huge stock marketeering returns by legal slavery

Answer 9

I would rather see heroin made legal and used as a painkiller in hospitals in place of morphine. There is more heroin addiction than morphine addiction because heroin being illegal is actually easier to get than morphine which is a legal painkiller and very regulated.

By making it a legal painkiller you then create an instant booming economy for the people of Afghanistan.

Answer 10

Sure, go ahead, destroy their one and only source of income. The result will be more desperation that drives even more people to become gangsters and terrorists.

I'd suggest step by step. First get the country back to scratch and develop it, then address the drug issue.

Perhaps it might be as wise and valid to take care for all the idiots in the UK who deal and consume it - where no demand, there is no supply.