KABUL(SW): Salamat Azimi, Minister of Counter Narcotics, said poppy cultivation has decreased by 19 percent while narcotics production has decreased by 48 percent in 2015 compared to the previous year.
The minister said that the alternatives for poppy cultivation have been provided for 15 provinces of the country and there is no single land where poppy is cultivated.
According to the reports by the ministry, nearly 2,000 hectares of poppy lands last year and 3,000 lands this year have been eradicated all over the country.
These reports showed that 97 percent of the poppy cultivation takes place in southern, eastern and western provinces of the country.
Anderson Afitson, Head of United Nations Regional Counter Narcotics Body, said that the reports showed that poppy cultivation has decreased but Helmand province still remains one of the provinces which is responsible for most of the narcotics production.
It is said that drug smuggling has increased in the northern provinces of the country due to insecurity.
Although officials in the Ministry of Counter Narcotics said the drug smuggling and narcotics production have decreased, Ministry of Public Health however, said that there were more than 3 million addicted citizens in the country.
ENDS
