KABUL (SW) – The Office of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has announced that the “big challenge” of drugs in Afghanistan still remains and that this country is the source of 85% of opium in the world.
The UN special envoy for Afghanistan Otunbayeva met de facto Dep. Int.Min. for Counter Narcotics, Haji Abdul Haq Akhund. Discussed drug ban, encouraging efforts reported on treatment, crop eradication, awareness, livelihoods. Big challenges remain: Afg source of 85% of global opium”, tweeted UNAMA.
It added there was a discussion about the prohibition of drugs, efforts to treat addicts, eliminating opium, awareness about the harms of drugs and alternative livelihoods.
It should be mentioned that Hebatullah Akhundzada, the leader of the Islamic Emirate, has issued a decree banning the cultivation of poppy and any intoxicants throughout Afghanistan. This decree states that from the date of its issuance, the cultivation of poppy in the whole country is “absolutely prohibited and no one can try to cultivate it.”
The leader of the Islamic Emirate has said that if someone violates this order, his culture will be destroyed and the violator will be dealt with according to Islamic Sharia.
Meanwhile, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) recently released a report saying that poppy cultivation in Afghanistan has increased by 32%.
It added that in 2021, 177 thousand hectares of land in Afghanistan were under poppy cultivation, and in 2022, this figure has reached 233 thousand hectares of land, which shows an increase of 32%.
According to this report, in 2022, farmers have also planted poppies in Kabul, the capital of the country, however, the largest amount of poppy planting has been allocated to the southern province of Helmand.
According to the report of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the income from drug cultivation and trafficking in Afghanistan in 2021 reached 425 million US dollars, and in 2022, this figure has increased to 1.4 billion dollars.
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