Comments on: The Follies of Legalization http://registan.net/index.php/2007/08/09/the-follies-of-legalization/ All Central Asia, All The Time Fri, 25 May 2012 03:15:21 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Jose http://registan.net/index.php/2007/08/09/the-follies-of-legalization/comment-page-1/#comment-375371 Jose Mon, 13 Aug 2007 09:07:59 +0000 http://www.registan.net/index.php/2007/08/09/the-follies-of-legalization/#comment-375371 I read with interest your comments as well as the Senlis Council report (http://www.senliscouncil.net/modules/Opium_licensing/modules/publications/022_publication). What seems most positive in their blueprint is the idea that licensing poppy for making medicines in village-based complexes will begin to build an infrastructure and bring villagers, the state and government officials into a cooperative relationship. The projects, for Senlis, should be directed to those villages that are in areas not under Taliban control and that have no alternative development projects. To me this proposal seems to answer many of the questions raised regarding poppy licensing - if as governments spent as much time putting into practise new and practical ideas as they do defending failed eradication and war on drugs, Afghanistan might not be in the state it is now. I read with interest your comments as well as the Senlis Council report (http://www.senliscouncil.net/modules/Opium_licensing/modules/publications/022_publication).
What seems most positive in their blueprint is the idea that licensing poppy for making medicines in village-based complexes will begin to build an infrastructure and bring villagers, the state and government officials into a cooperative relationship. The projects, for Senlis, should be directed to those villages that are in areas not under Taliban control and that have no alternative development projects. To me this proposal seems to answer many of the questions raised regarding poppy licensing – if as governments spent as much time putting into practise new and practical ideas as they do defending failed eradication and war on drugs, Afghanistan might not be in the state it is now.

]]> By: Alexander http://registan.net/index.php/2007/08/09/the-follies-of-legalization/comment-page-1/#comment-375366 Alexander Sun, 12 Aug 2007 07:58:44 +0000 http://www.registan.net/index.php/2007/08/09/the-follies-of-legalization/#comment-375366 It still makes more sense than trying to destroy the crop at the same time as attempting to win over the Afghan population who depend upon it: that simply drives them into the arms of the Taliban, who have had a pragmatic change of heart on the subject of opium. I agree that legalising poppy and then trying to regulate the market is a non-starter: what you need is a monopoly, with the UN paying to buy up the entire crop at or near market prices. In the long term this would be cheaper than the failed eradication programme, certainly if you factor in the additional troops which are needed every time a pissed-off farmer and his sons decide to join the Taliban after their livelihood is taken away from them without adequate compensation. And why destroy it? Opium is one of the most valuable rugs in the pharmacopeia (used for manufacturing morphine, amongst other things) and grown legally in Turkey and India for just this purpose. The truth is that the failed eradication programme is being driven by the US and UK 'tough on drugs' domestic political agenda and has nothing to do with what is best for Afghanistan. You cannot defeat an insurgency whilst simultaneously alienating the wider population from which it is drawn, and the anti-poppy programme does just that without reducing the quantity of heroin on our streets by a single ounce. Oh yes, and it would help if the US stopped bombing the crap out of civilians as well. It still makes more sense than trying to destroy the crop at the same time as attempting to win over the Afghan population who depend upon it: that simply drives them into the arms of the Taliban, who have had a pragmatic change of heart on the subject of opium. I agree that legalising poppy and then trying to regulate the market is a non-starter: what you need is a monopoly, with the UN paying to buy up the entire crop at or near market prices. In the long term this would be cheaper than the failed eradication programme, certainly if you factor in the additional troops which are needed every time a pissed-off farmer and his sons decide to join the Taliban after their livelihood is taken away from them without adequate compensation. And why destroy it? Opium is one of the most valuable rugs in the pharmacopeia (used for manufacturing morphine, amongst other things) and grown legally in Turkey and India for just this purpose. The truth is that the failed eradication programme is being driven by the US and UK ‘tough on drugs’ domestic political agenda and has nothing to do with what is best for Afghanistan. You cannot defeat an insurgency whilst simultaneously alienating the wider population from which it is drawn, and the anti-poppy programme does just that without reducing the quantity of heroin on our streets by a single ounce. Oh yes, and it would help if the US stopped bombing the crap out of civilians as well.

]]> By: unaha-closp http://registan.net/index.php/2007/08/09/the-follies-of-legalization/comment-page-1/#comment-375365 unaha-closp Sun, 12 Aug 2007 06:42:28 +0000 http://www.registan.net/index.php/2007/08/09/the-follies-of-legalization/#comment-375365 The problem with wheat and most every other basic staple is that the 1st world nations produce so much that there is no profit in it unless production is massively mechanised to get the costs down. The problem with wheat and most every other basic staple is that the 1st world nations produce so much that there is no profit in it unless production is massively mechanised to get the costs down.

]]> By: Michael Hancock http://registan.net/index.php/2007/08/09/the-follies-of-legalization/comment-page-1/#comment-375352 Michael Hancock Fri, 10 Aug 2007 16:35:37 +0000 http://www.registan.net/index.php/2007/08/09/the-follies-of-legalization/#comment-375352 I agree 100%. This isn't the pot issue in the states. The reason the hospitals and schools are bad can't really be connected to inefficient taxing like it can in the States. It's more basic than that. Wasn't there talk of genetically fixed crops that could grow in drier climates? I'm sorry I can't remember the source - probably one of the easy-to-read science magazines, like Scientific America. Anyway, part of the ease of poppy/opium is that it's something that actually grows in Afghanistan without too much hassle. Maybe a special kind of bean or corn, sold to Afghan's at discount [or given free with a loan to purchase and maintain the necessary machinery for harvest and transport]... And yet, again - poppies are just easier to move. The dirt trails and pock-marked roads make it difficult, as well. Then again, moving in tractors and Kamaz-style semi-trucks might do the trick. On the whole, fixing one of the primary sources of income is easier said than done, no matter how we shake it down. The country needs to be retooled so that it can be geared towards a more constructive, good-for-the-people economy. I agree 100%. This isn’t the pot issue in the states. The reason the hospitals and schools are bad can’t really be connected to inefficient taxing like it can in the States. It’s more basic than that. Wasn’t there talk of genetically fixed crops that could grow in drier climates? I’m sorry I can’t remember the source – probably one of the easy-to-read science magazines, like Scientific America. Anyway, part of the ease of poppy/opium is that it’s something that actually grows in Afghanistan without too much hassle. Maybe a special kind of bean or corn, sold to Afghan’s at discount [or given free with a loan to purchase and maintain the necessary machinery for harvest and transport]…

And yet, again – poppies are just easier to move. The dirt trails and pock-marked roads make it difficult, as well. Then again, moving in tractors and Kamaz-style semi-trucks might do the trick. On the whole, fixing one of the primary sources of income is easier said than done, no matter how we shake it down. The country needs to be retooled so that it can be geared towards a more constructive, good-for-the-people economy.

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