A Ghanian man
was arrested at Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi with 5.5 kilograms of heroin in a carry-on bag. He had come from Afghanistan.
Three Nigerian men were arrested in two separate incidents this week in Kabul, carrying a total of 13kg of heroin. One of the men was on his way to Dubai. It is believed that all of the drugs were destined for Europe.
This, along with a series of earlier incidents, has made it clear that Afghanistan is once again a major source of the world's heroin market.
Meanwhile, in Europe, a French think-tank called the Senlis Council has
put forth a proposal to allow the poppy growers of Afghanistan to legally contribute to the world's supply of the plant which is used to make some pain medications. Currently, farmers in places such as
Australia are legally able to contribute to this legal market, but Afghani farmers are unable to do so. It was under these circumstances that a
conference took place in Kabul last week to address the issue. Drug War Chronicle Editor Phil Smith
attended the conference and has been sending daily dispatches which can be read
here
As Afghanistan deals with this illegal drug trade, it faces many challenges. Smith hits upon the two major ones in his posts.
Meanwhile, people are waiting for the parliamentary election results, and the interior minister has resigned, saying that the government is failing to act against people in the government linked to the drug trade, especially some provincial governors. It's a tough nut for the Karzai government -- if he acts against those people, he weakens his own government; if he doesn't, he helps to build a narco-state.
Like many leaders in the third world, Karzai is caught between the desires of the international forces he relies on for protection, and those foreign governments' unrealistic expectations about being able to control the drug trade. But that catch-22 is a result of the second problem that Smith references after travelling to Jalalabad later in the week to meet some actual opium farmers.
In Jalalabad, we hooked up with Abdullah's relative Jawid, who directed us a couple hours north of the city into some sketchy territory in search of opium farmers. Despite the alleged sketchiness (this is eastern Afghanistan near the Pakistan border where the Taliban and Al Qaeda play), there was no sign of any trouble. We managed to meet with the elders of a district up there who had grown poppies in the past, and quite profitably, thank you! They told me that growing poppies gained them about seven times the income they got from growing food crops. The downside was that last year the government chopped it all down, so they had a big fat goose egg for a harvest. The government promised to help them, they said, but no help ever came. They're not too pleased about all this.
It is a common tendency for officials in the west to lay the blame for opium cultivation at the feet of farmers, but the farmers in Afghanistan have very little control over the market. The rural parts of Afghanistan are run by warlords, and those warlords are the folks who essentially control what the farmers grow. Within the Karzai government, there's been a constant struggle between those who make attempts to carry out the wishes of the international community, and those who decide to get rich. But despite this, millions of dollars have been spent on eradication, which not only hurts the farmers, but also reduces the government's ability to compensate them. And in the end, it makes the most radical anti-Karzai warlords popular to those farmers. It's a cycle where Karzai can't win.
As a result of Karzai's predicament, heroin addiction is a growing problem in Afghanistan and neighboring countries, like Russia and Iran, who want to take the Senlis Council proposal seriously. But for now, the UN, the US, and by extension, the Karzai government, aren't buying it. In the process, they are continuing to ensure that when it comes to Afghanistan's most lucrative resource, the very people who want to derail our nation-building efforts become more powerful by controlling it. And with a growing insurgency inspired by our troubles in Iraq, this has consequences above and beyond just large numbers of heroin addicts on the streets of Kabul, Karachi, and London. The key to keeping the opium trade from sinking the Karzai government lies in taking the Senlis Council's advice seriously. Removing the powerful black market that fuels both anti-Karzai and anti-west movements is the only way to marginalize the influence of those who threaten our mission there.
In other news...
A new book about the Tulia, TX drug sweep called "Tulia: Race, Cocaine and Corruption in a Small Texas Town" is out. A review is here.
Last One Speaks finds an article about bomb and drug sniffing dogs demonstrating their skills in front of Congress. Of course, they don't mention that since dogs can only detect one or the other, every dog that can detect marijuana, can't detect bombs.
Last One Speaks also discovers more about the website which ran this propaganda piece targeted towards the black community.
Indiana Representative Mark Souder has introduced a bill called the Methamphetamine Epidemic Elimination Act, which will likely do nothing to eliminate methamphetamine, but will most definitely put a bunch of very sick people in prison. Drug WarRant has more here. You can sign a petition here that will be sent to your local House Representative.
Some bowhunters near Yakima, WA, who stumbled upon a marijuana farm, were chased by armed men, and then called police to report it, are having trouble collecting the reward money.
Canada's Health Minister says that Vancouver's safe injection sites are working and that they should be copied in other Canadian cities.
In Los Angeles, however, the LAPD have been interfering with city-sanctioned needle exchange program sites.
Alameda County, CA Supervisors are deciding whether to licence three of six marijuana dispensaries which will be closed down due to citizen complaints that they have been attracting crime.
Alabama Gubernatorial candidate Loretta Nall appeared in court Tuesday for a misdemeanor marijuana charge. Nall's candidacy is a longshot, but it would be sweet if she got more votes than Roy Moore.
Here's a post about the Higher Education Act (with a few somewhat misinformed commenters).
Rocker Pete Doherty has been detained by the police in London who are investigating Kate Moss.
Also from England, former professional soccer player Mark Ward has been sentenced to 8 years in prison for a drug charge.
Some Australian medical researchers have come to the conclusion that Hollywood movies fail to show the downside of sex and marijuana use.
Eight per cent of the films studied contained depictions of marijuana use. Just over half of the marijuana scenes showed use of the drug in a positive light. The remainder of those scenes depicted marijuana use in a neutral light with no negative consequences.
The authors of the study conclude that "The motion picture industry should be encouraged to depict safer sex practices and the real consequences of unprotected sex and illicit drug use."And I'm sure the "medical researchers" also studied marijuana users to discover what percentage of marijuana users actually experience "negative consquences" to compare to what happens in Half Baked and Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle.
The Stranger reports on the "smoke-out" organized by Seattle anti-drug-war activist Dominic Holden.
More here.
Here's a press release from the Office of National Drug Control Policy (or NAMBLA), which provides us with its patented examples of logical fallacies.
Marijuana use is linked to poorer grades. A teen with a "D" average is four times more likely to have used marijuana than a teen with an "A" average.
Ironically, this logical fallacy is called the Joint Effect - One thing is held to cause another when in fact both are the effect of a single underlying cause. This fallacy is often understood as a special case of post hoc ergo prompter hoc. Of course, bad family situations tend to cause both results here, and the fallacy is repeated with this one as well.
Marijuana and underage drinking are linked to higher dropout rates. Students who drink or use drugs frequently are up to five times more likely than their peers to drop out of high school. A teenage marijuana user's odds of dropping out are more than twice that of a non-user.
Of course, marijuana use can certainly impair a teenager's ability to learn, just as alcohol can, but the illogic and propaganda that comes out of the ONDCP just makes it harder to get the right message out to teenagers, who are smarter than anyone gives them credit for.
Wait, I'm not so sure about that.
Although, the teenagers of Bucks County, PA are safe and sound now that Middletown Detective Daniel Baranoski raided the Spencer's Gifts at the Neshaminy Mall. (from here)
Not sure how recently this was released, but it's a good reference from NORML. State-by-state drug laws.
Finally, I'm planning to attend a meeting this Sunday morning in North Seattle with former Seattle Police Chief, and drug law reform advocate, Norm Stamper.