First published in 2005, updated in January 2015 and April 2017
Author’s Note
Afghanistan’s opium economy is a multibillion dollar operation
which feeds the surge of the US heroin market which is currently the
object of debate and public concern.
In the course of the last decade, there has been a surge in
Afghan opium production. In turn the number of heroin addicts in the US
has increased dramatically. Is there a relationship?
“There were 189,000 heroin users in
the US in 2001, before the US-NATO invasion of Afghanistan. By 2016
that number went up to 4,500,000 (2.5 million heroin addicts and 2
million casual users). Heroin deaths shot up from 1,779 in 2001 to
10,574 in 2014 as Afghan opium poppy fields metastasized from 7,600
hectares in 2001 (when the US-NATO War in Afghanistan began) to 224,000
hectares in 2016. (One hectare equals approximately 2.5 acres).
Ironically, the so-called US eradication operation in Afghanistan has
cost an estimated $8.5 billion in American taxpayer funds since the US-NATO-Afghan war started in October 2001.” ( See the article by Sibel Edmonds, August 22, 2017)
Afghanistan produces over 90 percent of the opium which feeds the heroin market.
