On March 24, Russia and NATO discussed efforts...
to the side.In February 2010, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) published a report predicting that opium cultivation will not decline in 2010 but that the reductions achieved in 2008 and 2009 will be maintained. Even then, Afghanistan produced twice as much heroin than the world consumed. Let me emphasize that this is an estimate, as precise figures are unavailable.
The most striking feature of the debate over Afghan heroin is that virtually all the concerned parties are right in their own way. Russia is right to advocate a massive opium-eradication program, as are the United States and NATO for choosing to crack down on drug smugglers and producers instead.
It"s as if everyone is moving in one direction down parallel streets, which will never merge into a single, wide avenue. Moscow, Washington and Brussels would accomplish much more if they joined forces.
True, some serious, albeit idealistic, analysts claim that the best way
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