Afghanistan Drug Control - Purchase
CSIS recommended in 2007 to "Shift the antidrug effort from eradication to a combination of purchase, alternative crops, and interdiction, with a particular emphasis on the highgrowth provinces of Kandahar and Helmand.... Dramatic changes are needed to reverse the expensive and ineffective direction of current antidrug policy. A shift in emphasis from eradication to interdiction, bonus programs, and direct purchase would shake up the market and the traffickers in 2007. Targeting Helmand and Kandahar, where 50 percent of Afghanistan’s poppy grows, will increase public safety.... Move the bulk of the $500 million to be spent on eradication in 2007 to alternative solutions for Helmand and Kandahar, including purchasing poppy crops at farm gate value for a total of $375 million. Some of the remaining $125 million should go to credit schemes and to enhance substitute livelihood programs and interdiction."
