DeeKnow’s Grotto

While OPEC member nations ramp up supply of Oil for consumption by us in the greedy west, another narcotic is being produced at an equally earnest rate in Afghanistan. Opium...

The head of the UN Office on Drugs visited the war-torn country in May to witness the 'problem' for himself, and BBC correspondent Andrew North covered it in his daily diary describing classic scenes like the following where the UN staffer asked a farmer why he was growing poppies...

"Well everyone else is doing it, so why shouldn't I?" ... Laughter from the crowd of officials and soldiers looking on. "No, I understand, you make more money," Mr Costa counters. "If I rob a bank, I make more money, but it's against the law." says the Farmer.

 "I'll come back next year and I want to see you in good shape and without poppy, okay." There's a pause, then the farmer says: "Okay, next year, I will only grow it with your permission." There is another explosion of laughter from the officials and soldiers, many of them chewing on opium seeds from poppy bulbs they have broken open.

It seems there are a number of provinces in the country that are actually attempting to curb Opium production and supply to the west, but there's obviously such a huge demand and a reasonable profit to be made that its gotta be a tough sell in cash-starved provinces in a country with the recent history of Afghanistan.

Sitting a few chairs down the table, the governor of Ghor province admits he is struggling, with an estimated 20,000 hectares of land sowed with opium this year .... one senior religious scholar admits that in many poppy-producing areas his counterparts often say that producing opium is "halal" or permitted in Islam, as long as it is sent to infidels abroad.

9:41:47 PM