DATE=2/24/98
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
NUMBER=2-227204
TITLE=AFGHAN DRUGS (L)
BYLINE=SARAH HORNER
DATELINE=ISLAMABAD
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: THE U-N INTERNATIONAL NARCOTICS CONTROL BOARD HAS
RELEASED ITS ANNUAL REPORT, CALLING FOR IMMEDIATE STEPS TO
COUNTER A LARGE INCREASE IN DRUG PRODUCTION IN AFGHANISTAN.
SARAH HORNER HAS DETAILS FROM ISLAMABAD.
TEXT: THE U-N REPORT DOCUMENTS A 25-PERCENT INCREASE IN THE
AMOUNT OF OPIUM PRODUCED IN AFGHANISTAN IN 1997.
THIS IS TRANSLATING INTO A GREATER FLOW OF HEROIN INTO EUROPE
THROUGH TRAFFICKING ROUTES IN CENTRAL ASIA. THE REPORT SAYS
THERE HAS ALSO BEEN A MARKED INCREASE IN HEROIN ABUSE IN
AFGHANISTAN'S NEIGHBOR, PAKISTAN.
THE REPORT SAYS THE LARGE INCREASE IN OPIUM PRODUCTION IS DUE TO
AFGHANISTAN'S CIVIL WAR, WHICH HAS CAUSED POLITICAL TURMOIL AND A
LACK OF ADMINISTRATIVE STRUCTURES.
THE IMPLEMENTING ARM OF THE NARCOTICS CONTROL BOARD, THE U-N DRUG
CONTROL PROGRAM, HAS RECENTLY INCREASED ITS EFFORTS. REGIONAL
DIRECTOR GARY LEWIS -- WHO IS BASED IN THE PAKISTANI CAPITAL,
ISLAMABAD, TOLD V-O-A THE PROGRAM IS TRYING TO BREAK THE CYCLE OF
ADDICTION.
// LEWIS ACT //
FIRSTLY THE ADDICTION IN PAKISTAN -- WHICH IS QUITE SEVERE --
HAS BEEN EXTREMELY SUPPLY DRIVEN FROM THE EARLY 1980'S ON. THIS
WAS DONE WITH THE NORMAL ECONOMIC APPROACH OF A LOSS LEADER, YOU
GIVE IT FREE FIRST AND THEN YOU CHARGE PEOPLE ONCE THEY BECOME
HOOKED. THE SOLUTION? PREVENTION. PREVENTATIVE MESSAGES FROM
THE GOVERNMENTS OF THE WEST AND PAKISTAN, AND ACTION AT THE
COMMUNITY AND VILLAGE LEVEL TO RAISE AWARENESS OF THE DANGERS
POSED BY THIS.
// END ACT //
MR. LEWIS SAYS U-N DRUG CONTROL PROGRAM ALSO WANTS LOCAL
RELIGIOUS LEADERS -- VILLAGE MULLAHS -- TO TELL PEOPLE ATTENDING
MOSQUES THEY SHOULD NOT TAKE HEROIN.
MR LEWIS EXPLAINED WHY DRUG PRODUCTION IS SO POPULAR IN
AFGHANISTAN AND PAKISTAN.
// LEWIS ACT //
STILL IN PARTS OF PAKISTAN, AND IN LARGE PARTS OF AFGHANISTAN,
THE PRODUCTION OF ILLICIT NARCOTIC CROPS REPRESENTS CURRENTLY THE
ONLY VIABLE SOURCE OF INCOME FOR PEOPLE. TWENTY YEARS AGO, THESE
INDIVIDUALS WERE NOT PRODUCING NARCOTIC CROPS. BUT THE
INTERVENTION BY OUTSIDE FORCES AND THE ENSUING CIVIL WAR HAVE
FORCED PEOPLE TO DEPEND ON SOMETHING THAT DOES NOT REQUIRE A LOT
OF WATER, CAN EASILY BE MARKETED, AND REPRESENTS A STORE OF
VALUE, AND FOR THAT REASON IS AN EXTREMELY ATTRACTIVE ECONOMIC
OPTION FOR FARMERS.
// END ACT //
THIS ECONOMIC REASON HAS CONSISTENTLY UNDERMINED EFFORTS TO
ERADICATE POPPY PRODUCTION IN AFGHANISTAN. BUT, MR LEWIS SAYS
THE U-N PROGRAM HAS SIGNED A NEW AGREEMENT WITH THE TALEBAN -- AN
ISLAMIC MOVEMENT WHICH CONTROLS TWO-THIRDS OF AFGHANISTAN,
INCLUDING THE CAPITAL, KABUL.
// LEWIS ACT //
WHAT WE CAN DO REALISTICALLY IS TO WORK WITH THE TALEBAN
AUTHORITIES TO PROVIDE ALTERNATIVES FOR THESE FARMERS WHICH WILL
ENABLE THE TALEBAN TO ENFORCE THE BAN WHICH THEY HAVE DECLARED AT
OUR BEHEST IN OCTOBER AND SEPTEMBER 1997. WE HAVE ALREADY
STARTED TO ENGAGE AND WORK WITH THE TALEBAN AUTHORITIES AND
PEOPLE AT THE COMMUNITY AND DISTRICT LEVEL IN AFGHANISTAN TO
REDUCE POPPY. OUR TARGET? IT MAY BE IDEALISTIC BUT IT IS A
TARGET AND WE SHOULD BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE TO IT IN 10-YEARS. OUR
TARGET IS TO WORK WITH THE AUTHORITIES IN THAT COUNTRY AND TO
REDUCE AND ELIMINATE THIS ILLICIT NARCOTIC CROP WITHIN 10-YEARS.
// END ACT //
THE TALEBAN CONTROL 96-PERCENT OF AFGHANISTAN'S TOTAL OPIUM
PRODUCTION -- WHICH IS GROWN IN THE SOUTHWEST AND THE EAST OF THE
COUNTRY. SOME OF THESE AREAS HAVE BEEN UNDER TALEBAN CONTROL FOR
THREE-AND-ONE-HALF YEARS, DURING WHICH TIME OPIUM PRODUCTION HAS
INCREASED.
LATEST U-N REPORT NOTES FOR THE PAST TWO-YEARS THERE HAS BEEN NO
SYSTEMATIC EFFORT BY TALEBAN AUTHORITIES TO ERADICATE OR REDUCE
POPPY CULTIVATION IN AFGHANISTAN. IN ONE AREA, HELMAND, OPIUM
PRODUCTION HAS INCREASED BY 34-PERCENT.
THE U-N REPORT ALSO NOTES NEW AREAS OF CULTIVATION IN 1997. MOST
OF THESE NEW GROWTH AREAS ARE CONTROLLED BY THE TALEBAN.
(SIGNED)
NEB/SLH/RAE
24-Feb-98 8:03 AM EST (1303 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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