CNN Terrorism Analyst Peter Bergen on Afghan Opium Conundrum
Last week I promised to post comments by Peter Bergen (CNN terrorism analyst) responding to a question I asked of him last week about the Afghan opium conundrum.
Opium Production
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Chronicle Book Review: The Wars of Afghanistan
If you care at all about what's going on in Afghanistan, The Wars of Afghanistan is a must read.
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The 2011 National Drug Control Strategy: Drug Policy on Autopilot [FEATURE]
The drug czar has released the 2011 National Drug Control Strategy, and there's little new there but a renewed attack on medical marijuana and legalization. Otherwise, it's pretty much business as usual.
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Chronicle Book Review: The Power of the Poppy
"The Power of the Poppy: Harnessing Nature's Most Dangerous Plant Ally" is reviewed and found most interesting.
How Afghan Poppy Eradication Efforts Are Helping the World's Largest Heroin Dealers
It has long been known inside Afghanistan that heroin dealers in high positions benefit from the United States and Afghan governments' counternarcotics policies. Now the American public can get a glimpse. US embassy cables published recently by WikiLeaks expose the insider opinion that Afghan officials are using poppy eradication teams to weed out the competitors of major traffickers with whom they are linked.
Afghan Opium Crop May Rise After "Cash Bonanza"
Opium prices in Afghanistan more than doubled last year after disease cut production in half, the United Nations said, creating a "cash bonanza" for many farmers that could drive up cultivation of the drug in 2011.
Taliban fighters, Afghanistan (image via Wikimedia)
Mexico 2010 Death Toll Higher Than Afghanistan
The bloody insurgency in Afghanistan claimed more than 10,000 lives last year, but the death toll still trailed that of Mexico's prohibition-related violence.
San Malverde, Mexico's patron saint of narco-traffickers
This Year's Top 10 International Drug Policy Stories
It's been a busy year on the global drug policy front. Here, we look at some of the biggest stories.
WikiLeaks: Karzai's Brother 'Corrupt Drugs Baron' US Says
Drug prohibition continues to complicate the war in Afghanistan. Leaked US documents on paint President Hamid Karzai's controversial younger brother as a corrupt drugs baron, exposing deep US concerns about graft undermining the war against the Afghan Taliban.
Are you sure that's heroin? Be careful out there, especially in England
Heroin Drought Causing Problems in England
A fungus that blighted the Afghan opium crop this year is being blamed for heroin shortages in England that are leading to adulterated smack and even fake smack, and that's sending some users to the hospital.