Join the Debate!
Login in to Post Your Comments
"The farmers are not our enemy," the State Department's Richard Holbrooke recently declared, referring to Afghans who grow opium poppies. Since the U.S. government is officially determined to wipe out their livelihood, they could be forgiven for misunderstanding. To reassure those who interpret ripping up their crops as a hostile act, Holbrooke said, "we're going to phase out eradication."
This policy shift is a long overdue admission that anti-drug efforts in Afghanistan are strengthening the Taliban insurgency and undermining stability. But the reasons Holbrooke cited for the change apply more broadly than he is willing to acknowledge, indicting not...
Copping to the Poppy Crop Flop
However, they were outlawed. Why? Because families were being mistreated and starved as parents used every penny to buy more "legal" drugs. Children were beaten to death for begging for food. People were being robbed by drug uses who needed another dime to buy another hit.
Sort of sounds like today, doesn't it?
They broke the problem by arresting anyone who refused to give up drugs and resorted to crime and placing them at hard labor. HARD labor. Today that is illegal. Going back to 'legal' drugs simply encourages more and more people to use them. It does nothing to...