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Finally! An alternative for Afghan poppy growers
KABUL - The fields of Balkh province in northern Afghanistan are free of opium poppies this year.
It's a success touted often by Afghan and international officials. But one look at some fields uncovers an emerging drug problem. Three-metre-tall cannabis plants flourish where poppy plants used to grow.
The crop - the source of both marijuana and hashish - can be just as profitable as opium but draws none of the scrutiny from Afghan officials.
The UN Office on Drugs and Crime estimates that cannabis cultivation rose 40 per cent in Afghanistan this year and is being grown in at least 18 of Afghanistan's 34 provinces.
The UN report singles out Balkh as a "leading example" of an opium-free province, saying other areas should follow "the model of this northern region where leadership, incentives and security have led farmers to turn their backs on opium."
However, another section of the report says the increase in marijuana cultivation "gives cause for concern."
Mohammad Alam, a local farmer, said he knows it's illegal to grow cannabis but he must do so to feed his children.
"The government cannot provide a good market for other crops like cotton, watermelon and vegetables, so I have to grow marijuana instead of poppy," he said.
Drug dealers from the southern poppy-growing provinces of Kandahar and Helmand travel north to buy marijuana and take it to Pakistan, Alam said.
Gen. Khodaidad, Afghanistan's acting counter-narcotics minister, said the government doesn't yet have a good handle on marijuana.
"This is also a big problem for Afghanistan," said Khodaidad, who like many Afghans uses one name. "It is very cheap. Hashish is more harmful (than poppies) to the people of Afghanistan."
The UN said cannabis yields around twice the quantity of drug per hectare as opium poppies and requires less investment.
The UN drug report also estimated that farmers growing cannabis could earn the same amount as opium farmers.
"As a consequence, farmers who do not cultivate opium poppy may turn to cannabis cultivation," the report said.
Afghanistan already grows some 93 per cent of the world's opium.
Akbar Khan, a 35-year-old farmer from Balkh province, said that if legal crops could command higher prices, farmers would grow those.
"We know marijuana is an illegal crop, but we are very poor and we have to grow it to help our families survive," he said. "I don't like growing poppy or marijuana. I don't want people to become addicted to these things, but I have to feed my children and I have no other way."
It's a success touted often by Afghan and international officials. But one look at some fields uncovers an emerging drug problem. Three-metre-tall cannabis plants flourish where poppy plants used to grow.
The crop - the source of both marijuana and hashish - can be just as profitable as opium but draws none of the scrutiny from Afghan officials.
The UN Office on Drugs and Crime estimates that cannabis cultivation rose 40 per cent in Afghanistan this year and is being grown in at least 18 of Afghanistan's 34 provinces.
The UN report singles out Balkh as a "leading example" of an opium-free province, saying other areas should follow "the model of this northern region where leadership, incentives and security have led farmers to turn their backs on opium."
However, another section of the report says the increase in marijuana cultivation "gives cause for concern."
Mohammad Alam, a local farmer, said he knows it's illegal to grow cannabis but he must do so to feed his children.
"The government cannot provide a good market for other crops like cotton, watermelon and vegetables, so I have to grow marijuana instead of poppy," he said.
Drug dealers from the southern poppy-growing provinces of Kandahar and Helmand travel north to buy marijuana and take it to Pakistan, Alam said.
Gen. Khodaidad, Afghanistan's acting counter-narcotics minister, said the government doesn't yet have a good handle on marijuana.
"This is also a big problem for Afghanistan," said Khodaidad, who like many Afghans uses one name. "It is very cheap. Hashish is more harmful (than poppies) to the people of Afghanistan."
The UN said cannabis yields around twice the quantity of drug per hectare as opium poppies and requires less investment.
The UN drug report also estimated that farmers growing cannabis could earn the same amount as opium farmers.
"As a consequence, farmers who do not cultivate opium poppy may turn to cannabis cultivation," the report said.
Afghanistan already grows some 93 per cent of the world's opium.
Akbar Khan, a 35-year-old farmer from Balkh province, said that if legal crops could command higher prices, farmers would grow those.
"We know marijuana is an illegal crop, but we are very poor and we have to grow it to help our families survive," he said. "I don't like growing poppy or marijuana. I don't want people to become addicted to these things, but I have to feed my children and I have no other way."
Another decade of occupation and we should have them up to 100%.
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