At this time of year, poppy fields are in full bloom in Afghanistan. For many Canadians, a poppy brings to mind the poem “In Flanders Fields”, and a November observation of remembrance for those who fought in wars in the past. However, in Afghanistan, the poppies blow among land mines, not crosses; and the battles are ongoing.
Poppies grow in Afghanistan as a cash crop. They are used to make opiate drugs (heroin and other narcotics). Afghanistan supplies about 90 per cent of the world’s opium; opium production accounts for 15 per cent of the nation’s economy.
The Afghan government does a little here and there to eradicate crops, and some initiatives have tried to assist farmers to transition from poppy cultivation to wheat, cotton or legumes. But many people depend on the income from their poppy fields to feed their families. More than 300,000 families are involved in growing poppies, and many would be plunged into poverty without the income they get from their poppy fields. In some parts of the country, poppy is one of the few crops that will grow at all. As such, eradicating all poppy fields is a politically dangerous undertaking.
Further complicating the problem is that the Taliban (who originally banned opium in 2000, but whose members have moved away over the years from religion or ideology) now controls much of the production of opium and heroin. This lucrative trade is seen as a way to power. The Taliban now protects the poppy crops, and earns favour with the farmers, by sowing land mines in the fields to protect against officials seeking to eradicate the crops.
Many Western armed forces sent to keep peace and/or defend against the Taliban do not even try to stop the cultivation of poppies. Instead, they carry out operations to try to confiscate the poppy after it leaves the hands of farmers and is smuggled out of the country.
Unsurprisingly, a consequence of so much opium production is addiction. Opiate consumption in Afghanistan is sharply on the rise. Afghanistan now has about a million heroin and opium addicts out of a population of 30 million. This makes it the world’s top user, per capita. Women, in particular, have increasingly turned to opium in the past decade. Female drug use is rarely mentioned in Afghanistan as there is a strong stigma attached. Many women pick up the habit from their husbands, or to numb out from a life of prostitution (another trade that has increased since the fall of the Taliban), and have few options to turn to for help. A single pilot project methadone clinic exists in Afghanistan. Injection drug use is also contributing to an increase in HIV/AIDS. The Afghan government is trying to reach more women with counselling and HIV testing, but conservative forces oppose this initiative.
Addiction can be seen as expression of despair, a pervasive belief that the situation as it is is just too painful to bear and must be medicated. Afghanistan can be seen as a nation that is physically, economically and psychically addicted to opium from its fields of poppies. There is profound despair that must be addressed or no amount of crop destruction or methadone clinics will turn the situation around.
Pranada Devi is a communications professional living in Toronto, Canada. She manages the Politics, Books and Activism sections for Parvati Magazine in addition to serving as Managing Editor for the magazine overall. She serves as an advisor on marketing communications for Parvati’s various projects.