Comments on: Guardian: 1 Million Heroin Addicts in Afghanistan http://firedoglake.com/2008/12/22/guardian-1-million-heroin-addicts-in-afghanistan/ Firedoglake weblog Fri, 17 Feb 2012 15:11:00 -0600 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.2 By: acquarius74 http://firedoglake.com/2008/12/22/guardian-1-million-heroin-addicts-in-afghanistan/#comment-1769745 acquarius74 Mon, 22 Dec 2008 23:33:16 +0000 http://firedoglake.com/2008/12/22/guardian-1-million-heroin-addicts-in-afghanistan/#comment-1769745 <p>Follow the money, Stirling.</p> Follow the money, Stirling.

]]> By: mui1 http://firedoglake.com/2008/12/22/guardian-1-million-heroin-addicts-in-afghanistan/#comment-1769669 mui1 Mon, 22 Dec 2008 20:52:21 +0000 http://firedoglake.com/2008/12/22/guardian-1-million-heroin-addicts-in-afghanistan/#comment-1769669 <p>Good. Because it touches on so many issues, here in the US and abroad as well as history.</p> Good. Because it touches on so many issues, here in the US and abroad as well as history.

]]> By: Stirling Newberry http://firedoglake.com/2008/12/22/guardian-1-million-heroin-addicts-in-afghanistan/#comment-1769666 Stirling Newberry Mon, 22 Dec 2008 20:27:38 +0000 http://firedoglake.com/2008/12/22/guardian-1-million-heroin-addicts-in-afghanistan/#comment-1769666 <p>I will be doing a longer follow up on this topic, since there has been enough interest.</p> I will be doing a longer follow up on this topic, since there has been enough interest.

]]> By: mui1 http://firedoglake.com/2008/12/22/guardian-1-million-heroin-addicts-in-afghanistan/#comment-1769581 mui1 Mon, 22 Dec 2008 18:50:10 +0000 http://firedoglake.com/2008/12/22/guardian-1-million-heroin-addicts-in-afghanistan/#comment-1769581 <p>Like I said, I am really agnostic about poppy growing, and even usage to a certain point. I think, as other commenters say,it has been grown for thousands of years. (It still has medical usages and I heard BigPharma obtains it legally in order to produce derivatives).But I will venture to say that I think drug use does not reach epic proportions unless something is really wrong (re: Opium Wars). I don’t like it when it hits neighborhoods or countries like a plague.It’s a sad, sad thing. I’ve seen it happen.And it really seems it is a plague. I do not blame the users so much. I am just trying to understand the dynamics that cause massive amounts of people to fall into addiction at certain points in history.<br /> I have heard that the infrastructure in Afghanistan is so bad that farmers can’t get other types of produce to the market. I have to concur with yellowsnapdragon that bad US policy may be part of the problem.</p> Like I said, I am really agnostic about poppy growing, and even usage to a certain point. I think, as other commenters say,it has been grown for thousands of years. (It still has medical usages and I heard BigPharma obtains it legally in order to produce derivatives).But I will venture to say that I think drug use does not reach epic proportions unless something is really wrong (re: Opium Wars). I don’t like it when it hits neighborhoods or countries like a plague.It’s a sad, sad thing. I’ve seen it happen.And it really seems it is a plague. I do not blame the users so much. I am just trying to understand the dynamics that cause massive amounts of people to fall into addiction at certain points in history.
I have heard that the infrastructure in Afghanistan is so bad that farmers can’t get other types of produce to the market. I have to concur with yellowsnapdragon that bad US policy may be part of the problem.

]]> By: yellowsnapdragon http://firedoglake.com/2008/12/22/guardian-1-million-heroin-addicts-in-afghanistan/#comment-1769562 yellowsnapdragon Mon, 22 Dec 2008 18:13:30 +0000 http://firedoglake.com/2008/12/22/guardian-1-million-heroin-addicts-in-afghanistan/#comment-1769562 <p>Taliban and Al Qaida are thugs. Real adherents of Islam do not approve of drug use. IIRC, the Taliban (and Al Qaida?) got away with growing and selling drugs because the market served infidels.</p> Taliban and Al Qaida are thugs. Real adherents of Islam do not approve of drug use. IIRC, the Taliban (and Al Qaida?) got away with growing and selling drugs because the market served infidels.

]]> By: cinnamonape http://firedoglake.com/2008/12/22/guardian-1-million-heroin-addicts-in-afghanistan/#comment-1769556 cinnamonape Mon, 22 Dec 2008 18:00:14 +0000 http://firedoglake.com/2008/12/22/guardian-1-million-heroin-addicts-in-afghanistan/#comment-1769556 <p>The Taliban never did ban opium poppy production. They did warehouse the production for a couple of years, and tried to reduce addiction within Afghanistan. This was basically something worked out in the latter part of the last millenium. But there was evidence that they were still exporting heroin.</p> The Taliban never did ban opium poppy production. They did warehouse the production for a couple of years, and tried to reduce addiction within Afghanistan. This was basically something worked out in the latter part of the last millenium. But there was evidence that they were still exporting heroin.

]]> By: cinnamonape http://firedoglake.com/2008/12/22/guardian-1-million-heroin-addicts-in-afghanistan/#comment-1769553 cinnamonape Mon, 22 Dec 2008 17:55:23 +0000 http://firedoglake.com/2008/12/22/guardian-1-million-heroin-addicts-in-afghanistan/#comment-1769553 <p>The ancient Scythian empire of Central Asia buried their rulers in tomb graves in which have been found censers (incense burners) that contain the residue of opium. Opium use has been a part of that region, and areas that had trade with that region, for millenia. When it reached extreme levels in impacted societies there were efforts to eradicate it. But it was also traded profitably by Empires (including the British Empire)…who ran one of the largest drug cartels in history, backed by the British Army and Navy.</p> The ancient Scythian empire of Central Asia buried their rulers in tomb graves in which have been found censers (incense burners) that contain the residue of opium. Opium use has been a part of that region, and areas that had trade with that region, for millenia. When it reached extreme levels in impacted societies there were efforts to eradicate it. But it was also traded profitably by Empires (including the British Empire)…who ran one of the largest drug cartels in history, backed by the British Army and Navy.

]]> By: yellowsnapdragon http://firedoglake.com/2008/12/22/guardian-1-million-heroin-addicts-in-afghanistan/#comment-1769548 yellowsnapdragon Mon, 22 Dec 2008 17:40:11 +0000 http://firedoglake.com/2008/12/22/guardian-1-million-heroin-addicts-in-afghanistan/#comment-1769548 <p>It’s not the fault of the addict, and poppies have obviously been grown there and elswhere for centuries. Drugs are universal, after all.</p> <p>But drug use is not looked upon kindly in Islam, so I argue that cultural pressures in Afghanistan would naturally discourage the production and trade of opium. Had the US actually developed a rational policy there, it would have put resources into development projects that freed Afghans to find work other than in the drug trade. Shouldn’t have been too difficult considering the fundamentalist bent of the region.</p> It’s not the fault of the addict, and poppies have obviously been grown there and elswhere for centuries. Drugs are universal, after all.

But drug use is not looked upon kindly in Islam, so I argue that cultural pressures in Afghanistan would naturally discourage the production and trade of opium. Had the US actually developed a rational policy there, it would have put resources into development projects that freed Afghans to find work other than in the drug trade. Shouldn’t have been too difficult considering the fundamentalist bent of the region.

]]> By: yellowsnapdragon http://firedoglake.com/2008/12/22/guardian-1-million-heroin-addicts-in-afghanistan/#comment-1769543 yellowsnapdragon Mon, 22 Dec 2008 17:34:07 +0000 http://firedoglake.com/2008/12/22/guardian-1-million-heroin-addicts-in-afghanistan/#comment-1769543 <p>LOL!</p> LOL!

]]> By: GregB http://firedoglake.com/2008/12/22/guardian-1-million-heroin-addicts-in-afghanistan/#comment-1769540 GregB Mon, 22 Dec 2008 17:32:25 +0000 http://firedoglake.com/2008/12/22/guardian-1-million-heroin-addicts-in-afghanistan/#comment-1769540 <p>Those aren’t ulcers, those are freedom blisters.</p> <p>Let freedom reign.</p> <p>-G.W. Revisionist</p> Those aren’t ulcers, those are freedom blisters.

Let freedom reign.

-G.W. Revisionist

]]>