Should “a comprehensive crackdown on opium poppy growing” be launched in Afghanistan?
: http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/medvedev-seeks-war-on-afghan-drugs-but-us-is-tepid/407980.html Quote: “President Dmitry Medvedev on Wednesday rolled out a global initiative to stem Afghan drug trafficking to include a comprehensive crackdown on opium poppy growing, but the United States gave a cool reception to the plan. Russia, the world’s largest per capita heroin consumer with an estimated 30,000 people dying of abuse annually, has tried to take the lead to combat a flow of drugs from Afghanistan. Moscow believes that U.S.-led NATO forces fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan are reluctant to uproot local drug output, which has surged after their invasion in 2001 and now accounts for 90 percent of all heroin produced globally. The United States said eradicating poppy plantations would push disgruntled Afghan farmers into the hands of insurgents. Medvedev said the world community must work out a joint approach to combat Afghan drugs.
