Worlds biggest drug bust in Afghanistan

[NRGie]

Afghanistan's biggest drug problem is not hashish but opium. It produced 9000 tonnes last year, enough to make 93 per cent of the world's heroin supply.

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,23856870-663,00.html

[zarge]

I'm pretty sure it's legal there.. but not legal. Everyone there grows shit.. it's the only way to make money. Kind of like columbia.. illegal but everyone does it. Don't quote me though!

[Black Gts]

they should burn all drug busts on site. I never read the link but in todays sun they said they burned it on site. what would you give to be standing down wind?

[$lick_rYz]

They use opium as currency there. For most ppl there it is the only source of money atleast that's how it was before US went in

[TKRIS]

The US shouldn't be allowed to force Afganis to starve to death and live in poverty because they can't keep Amricans from sticking needles in their arms.

Afganistan doesn't have much of a heroin problem, and poppy crops are well suited to the area. Additionally, they're used for other shit too, not just junk. Why should it be the Afganis that pay for the vices of Americans?

Similarily, Bolivia doesn't have a huge cocaine problem, and coca has been very, very widely used by the Amerindian people for hundreds of years. There's a ton of shit you can do with coca that's doesn't involve making cocaine. Why should the Bolivian's be punished because we can't quit putting that shit up our noses?

The US, and Canada, for that matter, needs to start looking at our own pile of shit, and taking responsibility for it, instead of passing the buck onto a dirt-poor, uneducated farmer in some 3rd/2nd world shithole.

[BerserkerCatSplat]

^Yes, because the American's homeland War on Drugs went oh so well for them.

[TKRIS]

^ Of course it didn't.
You'll never succeed in cutting off supply, in the face of rising demand.

The continuing failure of the US "War on Drugs" is a result of unrealistic goals and piss poor strategy. They've set themselves on an unwinnable front, and they're (and we're) to arrogant to back off now.
The American's drug problems are the fault of the Americans, not some farmer living on the edge of a mountain in Bolivia.

Furthermore, America's "War on Drugs" has led to far more corruption and exploitation around the world than their drug use ever could.

[hampstor]

Originally posted by BerserkerCatSplat
^Yes, because the American's homeland War on Drugs went oh so well for them.

"Instead of a war on poverty, they got a war on drugs so the police can bother me" :bigpimp:

Hey it always works for Governments... find someone else to blame for your own problems and then go to war with them.

[Expiredsoda]

Why don't they let those poor Afghans just get high? Not much else to look forward to in your day when you live in a war ravaged desert shithole. :nut:

[brown_guy]

Originally posted by Expiredsoda
Why don't they let those poor Afghans just get high? Not much else to look forward to in your day when you live in a war ravaged desert shithole. :nut: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[tabouli]

Originally posted by TKRIS
The US, and Canada, for that matter, needs to start looking at our own pile of shit, and taking responsibility for it, instead of passing the buck onto a dirt-poor, uneducated farmer in some 3rd/2nd world shithole.

Reading owns you. The article clearly explains it was Afghan police (not North American internationals) who made the seizure. It also explains how it was the Taliban (not someone to pity, like the farmer you want to believe is the mastermind behind it all) who owned and grew the plants.

We aren't talking about some acreage in the middle of nowhere with 2 donkeys and a happy-go-lucky farmer. These are multi-billion dollar drug cartels. They steal, rape and murder to facilitate trade.
The people doing this aren't helping Afghanistan citizens anymore than they help the North Americans they peddle to. They're killing their own country as much as anyone else's. It's not weed or booze we're talking about. Heroin is the fucking devil.

Sure, lets leave the small fish alone. I agree. But we should be crucifying the fuckers who are growing acres upon acres of the shit, and poisoning people all over the world.

[iceburns288]

It definitely could not have been the Taliban that grew the plants. The heroin market actually boomed when we invaded Afghanistan because when the Taliban was in power, they would cut off the arms of anyone caught growing opium. When the Taliban was done away with, the US couldn't enforce policy the same way :p and so the opium trade there boomed. It's really the only way a lot of Afghan families can make a living.

[TKRIS]

Originally posted by tabouli


Reading owns you. The article clearly explains it was Afghan police (not North American internationals) who made the seizure. It also explains how it was the Taliban (not someone to pity, like the farmer you want to believe is the mastermind behind it all) who owned and grew the plants.

We aren't talking about some acreage in the middle of nowhere with 2 donkeys and a happy-go-lucky farmer. These are multi-billion dollar drug cartels. They steal, rape and murder to facilitate trade.
The people doing this aren't helping Afghanistan citizens anymore than they help the North Americans they peddle to. They're killing their own country as much as anyone else's. It's not weed or booze we're talking about. Heroin is the fucking devil.

Sure, lets leave the small fish alone. I agree. But we should be crucifying the fuckers who are growing acres upon acres of the shit, and poisoning people all over the world.

You've completely missed the point of my post.
But hell, don't let me stop you.
Go ahead and keep assigning me imaginary arguments, and ignoring my actual position, so that you can keep on arguing with yourself.

Here's a couple questions though: Why are there multi-billion dollar, illegal, drug cartels?
Why are there not multi-billion dollar illegal breweries and toothpaste factories?
Why does Kraft have to meet certain quality and employment standards, but these cartels do not?
Do poppy growers in Whatever-istan have the ability to put a needle in your arm?
Is the fear of the law the primary reason you don't use heroin?

[r3cc0s]

Last time I checked, medicinal Opiuts, are too made out of Poppies

[Destinova403]

Originally posted by r3cc0s
Last time I checked, medicinal Opiuts, are too made out of Poppies

yes the taliban are DEFINATELY growing poppies for medical reasons.

this is aimed at TKRIS

what if the government gave the people something else to grow... ex: i burn your poppies and give you a big bag of food seeds... and give them a quota that they have to fill for X reason.

ex: the government wants X tonnes of X food... and will pay market price for it... and if you dont fill it without a reasonable excuse we will kill ur goat or something.

i know you think that the drug market is helping the afghans to rebuild ("the poor farmers are only trying to make a living. :angel: ")... but consider the amount of resources going into their production which could alternately go into more useful endevours. ex: growing food... so the people wont be starving anymore.

EDIT: and please dont forget that drugs like heroin are HIGHLY addictive AND destructive... YES it is americans own fault that its a problem... but consider how difficult it is for them to "just stop using it"
its VERY ignorant to consider that they could just put down the needle any time they want.

and to answer your final question... i dont use heroin because one wrong dosage can kill me.

[TKRIS]

There are very few foods that can be grown and survive, let alone provide any sort of profit*. The government isn't a never ending public coffer, and a nation built on subsidization will never be free of it.
In short, there's likely nothing they can grow to sustain their current financial outlook. Bananas ain't gonna bring in the same $$$ as heroin. That said, they wouldn't need to if the government wasn't so currupt, and the country wasn't run by the Taliban, etc.

I do think you're misjudging my priorities here.
I don't care that much about the Afganis. My priority is here, in North America.
We currently have a drug policy that exploits the Afganis, props up dangerous and abusive drug cartels, (both of which create enemies and threats) costs us billions of dollars, and sustains the criminal underbelly of our own society. I'm not alruistic in my intentions. I'm very much looking out for #1 first here.

All we're doing is ensuring our enemies stay rich, the poor stay fucked, and we stay hooked.

If we stop trying to cut our demand off by strangling the supply (an impossible task, BTW), we shut off the flow to Keyser Soze's wallet. We get to quit chasing weeds. We get to get some people making honest money, and we get a much, much better grip on regulating and handling the problem over here.



*The USA tried to convince the Bolivian's to grow bananas instead of coca. It didn't work for a dozen reasons we can go into, if you wish.

[BerserkerCatSplat]

Originally posted by TKRIS


All we're doing is ensuring our enemies stay rich, the poor stay fucked, and we stay hooked.

If we stop trying to cut our demand off by strangling the supply (an impossible task, BTW), we shut off the flow to Keyser Soze's wallet. We get to quit chasing weeds. We get to get some people making honest money, and we get a much, much better grip on regulating and handling the problem over here.



So you're saying that legalizing all drugs will cut off demand? I'm having a hard time trying to follow your solution here.

[TKRIS]

Originally posted by BerserkerCatSplat


So you're saying that legalizing all drugs will cut off demand? I'm having a hard time trying to follow your solution here.

Of course not.
I didn't even mention legalization, specifically.

I'm not proposing a magic bullet here. My point is only that by stopping this futile worldwide hunt for plants, we free up a massive amount of resources to help deal with the causes for addiction here. That's something we can work at, and while we're never going to get rid of drugs, if we spend 1/10th of what we're currently throwing away on failed policies, here, trying to help and educate, we'll be much better off.
On a personal level, I don't give 2 shits if you want to sit in your room all day and snort coke. None of my business. You leave me alone and I'll leave you alone.
The danger isn't from you, it's from all the people that get rich because of you.

The lowest common denomonator is thriving because you're a fuckhead junkie. I don't particularily care about you, because you're going to fuck your life up regardless. Fuck you. I'm just saying that giving all that money to criminals, shipping it overseas to fund dictators, exploitation, and terrorism, might not be in our best interests. Banning "a" ensures only criminals have "a".

Look at prostitution: It's dangerous. Mostly because it's illegal.
In Nevada, on the other hand, prostitution is not only safe for the legal sex workers in brothels, but it's incredibly safe for the client as well.

Illegal=Unregulated