The Terror War’s “Harvest Of Shame”

Two quick notes here: 1) I should put “terror war” in quotes based on our mismanagement due to the Iraq horror, but I didn’t because the title would look too confusing, and 2) everyone who crows about illegal immigration in this country should watch the landmark “CBS Reports” documentary I referenced in the title produced by Edward R. Murrow in 1960 and narrated by a young reporter just starting out named Dan Rather – sadly, we are not likely to see that type of a program from that network or any other again.

This column by Bronwen Maddox of the Times of London online points out the resurgence of poppy growth in Afghanistan, which has led to a boom in heroin trafficking throughout Asia and the continent, particularly in Afghanistan itself where, as Maddox reports, “one million Afghans take heroin or opiates, including 60,000 children under 15.”

I’ll let those staggering numbers speak for themselves (and the Maddox report also notes that poppy growth is on the rise in Pakistan – why shouldn’t they get a “piece of the action” also, right?).

And while we’ve seen a lot of reporting about Iran and its emerging nuclear capability, I haven’t seen any report that points out the following (from this link)…

At present, there are three million drug abusers in Iran, most addicted to heroin. (in comparison, the US has an estimated 900 000 heroin addicts). The addiction rate is fueled by high unemployment, poverty, hopelessness, and boredom, the same reasons that fuel addiction in other countries. However, unlike the US or many parts of Europe, where heroin addiction is a small part of the overall addiction problem, it is the main drug of abuse in Iran.

As far as drug abuse in this country is concerned, it looks like “pharma is still king,” but heroin may be making an impact (as noted here)…

Rates of pharmaceutical drug abuse exceed that of all other drugs except marijuana, resulting in a high number of pharmaceutical overdose deaths annually. However, recent success within several states in reducing the illegal diversion of pharmaceutical drugs, particularly pharmaceutical narcotics such as OxyContin, through various antidiversion initiatives and monitoring programs has caused some individuals addicted to or dependent on such drugs to substitute other drugs, such as heroin, for prescription narcotics. In some areas, such substitutions among prescription drug abusers have been widespread, creating new challenges for local law enforcement and public health agencies compelled to address a widening local heroin user population.

The USDOJ report also notes international drug organizations competing in this country for “market share,” if you will, including Mexican “DTOs” (drug trafficking organizations) that present tougher challenges for law enforcement in communities in this country because they aren’t locally based.

And as the post by Dr. Nancy Reyes notes, a huge secondary problem as a result of the boom in drug trafficking is needle sharing that is leading to a spike in cases of HIV (I haven’t been able to determine if the U.N. is looking at any recommendations having to do with needle exchange, but if it isn’t, it should – first and foremost, we’re talking about a health issue here).

I’ll try to recap where I’m going here:

1) We didn’t manage the war in Afghanistan properly (diverting forces to Iraq), and partly as a result of that, poppy growth has increased (as Dr. Reyes says, when farmers don’t have another crop they can grow that will make as much money – and again, we’re talking about the third world here, let’s not forget – then growing poppies looks pretty good).
2) This has led to an explosion of heroin from Afghanistan to Iran and throughout Europe and Asia, competing with other worldwide suppliers.
3) It has also led to an increase in HIV due to sharing of dirty needles by drug addicts.

So the next time you hear about our government waging a “drug war” of one type or another, try not to hurt yourself by laughing too hard.