In its summary of the Afghanistan Opium Survey 2008, issued today, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) says that opium cultivation in Afghanistan decreased by 19 per cent, but the situation is still “vulnerable to a relapse”.
According to the report, opium production so far this year was reduced to some 157,000 hectares, down from a record harvest of 193,000 in 2007. It also shows that, since last year, the number of opium-free provinces has increased by almost 50 per cent: from 13 to 18, indicating that opium is not grown in more than half of the country’s 34 provinces. Executive Director of UNODC Antonio Maria Costa called on the international community to reward the opium-free provinces and urged the Afghan authorities, assisted by NATO, to shift focus and resources from eradication to closing opium markets, destroying heroin labs and going after the drug convoys.
seen at 12:00, 26 August
in
Spokesman for the UN Secretary General.
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