Opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan reached a record-high last year, leading to unprecedented levels of potential heroin on the world market, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said in a new report released on Monday.
Helping regions in Myanmar which are wracked by conflict move away from opium production is good for the economy and will help solidify the country’s peace process.
Cultivation of opium poppies, the plant used to manufacture heroin, has dropped by 19 per cent year-on-year, according to a UN survey released on Wednesday.
Led by strong growth in Myanmar, opium poppy cultivation in the area known as the Golden Triangle rose for the seventh consecutive year, according to a report released today by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
A United Nations survey launched today points to “significant” increases in opium poppy cultivation in Myanmar and Laos, and calls for greater investment to support alternative livelihoods.
Afghanistan, the world’s biggest producer of opium, is now also the global leader when it comes to the production of hashish, according to a new United Nations survey released today.
The Security Council, concerned at the “high level of opium cultivation, production and trafficking” in Afghanistan, today called on States to bolster cooperation to counter this illicit practice which is thwarting the country’s security and development.
Efforts to combat opium production in Afghanistan, a $3-billion-a-year trade accounting for more than 90 per cent of the world’s illegal output, have been marred by high-level corruption, with this year registering a record increase of some 50 per cent, according to a United Nations report released today.
Government success at persuading farmers to voluntarily refrain from poppy cultivation, farmers’ apprehension that the official ban on opium cultivation could be enforced by eradication, and relatively low farm-gate prices have led to a 21 per cent decline in Afghan opium cultivation, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said today.
