Afghanistan, home of some of the most ancient cultures of the world, has been ravaged systematically by many different invaders over thousands of years. From the Greeks, Mongols, Turks, Arabs, to the modern invaders Russia, US and the UK, the country has been constantly overrun by various people trying to gain control of it. Recently, the extremist group Taliban has been doing all it can to control the country, besides China and India, as western nations start to pull out. The primary reason cited for Afghanistan being such a coveted geography is its strategic location, as it is a key part of the mountainous land routes connecting Asia with Europe. The primary reason why so many nations covet and try to control Afghanistan, I believe however, is its opium.
Afghanistan produces the bulk of the world's opium. According to the UNODC World Drug Report 2020, the country accounted for 84% of the world's opium production. Being traditionally a opium consuming country, it has been exploited by all. Afghanistan is part of the Ballkan Route which accounts for the bulk of the world's drug trafficking. In recent times, along with the Iran and Pakistan, Afghanistan has been the primary source of opium and heroin for Europe, the Middle East and Asia. The global opioid pharmaceutical industry, both legal and illegal, sources a large part of its raw material from Afghanistan. China and India, also traditional opium producing and consuming countries, appear to have taken a stranglehold on their opium production, directing it to their legal pharmaceutical industry through tight regulation. Both these countries, however appear to pale in comparison to Afghanistan's opium production capability. Hence it is no surprise that Afghanistan cannot shake off its invaders in spite of the country becoming a landmine for all.
Natural cannabis, of which Afghanistan possesses some of the best
varieties, is smuggled by drug cartels to Europe where it is sold at
high prices in the thriving medical and recreational cannabis markets. Afghanistan produces the second highest quantity of cannabis resin after Morocco, according to UNODC.
The saddest part of all this is that Afghanistan has been reduced to shambles with terrorist organizations and invading nations using the lucrative heroin trade to fund their various activities. The general population has been reduced to living in war torn conditions with not a day passing without reports of violence. Heroin has seeped into the society and culture of this country. Where people in earlier times used relatively harmless natural opium, now low grade and highly adulterated heroin is the recreational drug of choice among the masses. The reuse of syringes has fueled a HIV epidemic that is largely unreported and untreated. To make matters worse, if that is even possible, Afghanistan is now emerging as a primary source of methamphetamine that is supplied to Iran and the Middle East.
The people of Afghanistan suffer through all this as both natural opium and cannabis are prohibited for local use. The most obvious solution to this problem would be the legalization of both natural cannabis and opium in the country. The farmers could grow it legally, the people could use it in its natural form for recreation and medicine, as has been done traditionally for thousands of years, and the economy would benefit vastly and become sustainable through the global legal trade of opium and cannabis. Opium however has a limited amount of uses when compared to the highly versatile cannabis. So if a choice was to be made, I would choose the legalization of cannabis first for Afghanistan and then the legalization of opium.
If the decision makers of Afghanistan recognized the value of the cannabis that the country possesses, in terms of medicinal, recreational, business, industrial, agricultural, environmental and economic value, as well as the reasons for the suffering of the people, they would do well to legalize the plant, allow farmers to grow it and allow its international trade to vastly boost the Afghan economy. It would lift the Afghan people out of the mire of war, heroin and methamphetamine addiction, revolutionize jobs, revive sustainable industry and vastly boost public health.
But then legalization of cannabis would also cut into the funding of terror networks. It would reduce arms and heroin trade and the incentive for international armies to station themselves in the country in the name of providing security and rehabilitation for the people. It would cut into the sourcing of opium for global pharmaceutical giants and the illegal heroin industry. It would mean the end of all conflicts which are kept alive only to hide the underlying exploitation of the land and its people for the big businesses of the world like the drug and arms industries. Now which Afghan government would be willing to do something like that, to try and uproot all these diseases that have taken deep root in the Afghan nation, when it could mean a stop in the inflow of alms in the form of international aid that these so called well wishers of the country provide and which flows into the pockets of the elite leaving the vast majority of the people worse off than they were? It would need to be a truly special one, one that really cared for the people, the land, the environment and believed in the Afghan nation, peace and a sustainable world.
But then legalization of cannabis would also cut into the funding of terror networks. It would reduce arms and heroin trade and the incentive for international armies to station themselves in the country in the name of providing security and rehabilitation for the people. It would cut into the sourcing of opium for global pharmaceutical giants and the illegal heroin industry. It would mean the end of all conflicts which are kept alive only to hide the underlying exploitation of the land and its people for the big businesses of the world like the drug and arms industries. Now which Afghan government would be willing to do something like that, to try and uproot all these diseases that have taken deep root in the Afghan nation, when it could mean a stop in the inflow of alms in the form of international aid that these so called well wishers of the country provide and which flows into the pockets of the elite leaving the vast majority of the people worse off than they were? It would need to be a truly special one, one that really cared for the people, the land, the environment and believed in the Afghan nation, peace and a sustainable world.
In December 2020, the UN voted to remove cannabis from its most
restricted Schedule IV category of the 1961 Single Convention on
Narcotic Drugs. It does however still remain in Schedule I, which is the
least restrictive. This one move by the UN itself should be sufficient
to bring about the recreational legalization of cannabis in every nation
and an overhaul of national drug laws.
Listed below are articles taken from various media related to the above subject. Words in italics are the thoughts of your truly at the time of reading the article.
'The world’s single largest heroin trafficking route continues to be the
Balkan route, which takes heroin from Afghanistan to markets in Western
and Central Europe via Iran (the Islamic Republic of), Turkey and the
Balkans. This route accounted for 58 per cent of the heroin seizures
made outside Afghanistan in 2018.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and
Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_1.pdf
'Opium is illicitly produced in some 50 countries worldwide, although the three countries where most opium is produced have accounted for about 97 per cent of global opium production over the past five years. Afghanistan, the country where most opium is produced, which has accounted for approximately 84 per cent of global opium production over the past five years, supplies markets in neighbouring countries, Europe, the Near and Middle East, South Asia and Africa and to a small degree North America (notably Canada) and Oceania. Countries in SouthEast Asia – mostly Myanmar (some 7 per cent of global opium production) and, to a lesser extent, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (about 1 per cent of global opium production) – supply markets in East and South-East Asia and Oceania. Countries in Latin America – mostly Mexico (6 per cent of global opium production) and, to a far lesser extent, Colombia and Guatemala (less than 1 per cent of the global total) – account for most of the heroin supply to the United States and supply the comparatively small heroin markets of South America.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf
'Despite a long-term upward trend, the global area under opium poppy cultivation declined by 17 per cent in 2018 and then by 30 per cent in 2019, falling to an estimated 240,800 ha. Declines in the area under cultivation were reported in both Afghanistan and Myanmar in 2018 and 2019. Despite the recent declines, the global area under opium poppy cultivation is nevertheless still substantially larger than a decade ago and at similar level of the global area under coca cultivation' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf
'Despite global opium production in 2018 being less than in 2017, there have been no indications to date of a shortage in the supply of heroin to the respective consumer markets. In 2018 and 2019, both opium and heroin prices declined in the main opium production areas in Afghanistan, with opium farmgate prices falling by an average of 37 per cent (on a year earlier) in 2018 and by 24 per cent in 2019, while high-quality heroin prices fell by an average of 11 per cent in 2018 and by 27 per cent in 2019 in Afghanistan. Due to the bumper opium harvest of 2017, opium prices showed significant declines at an earlier stage (starting in 2017) than did heroin prices (basically starting in 2018), suggesting that it may have taken some time for clandestine heroin manufacture to adjust to the overall greater availability of opium before expanding, as later reflected in lower heroin prices. At the same time, data also show that, following two years of decreased opium production as compared with 2017, the downward trend in drug prices came to a halt, in the case of opium, in June 2019, and a few months later, in August 2019, in the case of heroin as well.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf
'The largest quantities of both opium and morphine seized were reported by the Islamic Republic of Iran, followed by Afghanistan and Pakistan, while seizures reported by other countries remained comparatively modest. The largest total quantity of heroin seized by a country in 2018 was that seized by the Islamic Republic of Iran (for the first time since 2014), followed by Turkey, the United States, China, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Belgium.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf
'Almost 70 per cent of the global quantities of heroin and morphine (the two main internationally trafficked opiates) seized in 2018 were intercepted in Asia, mostly in South-West Asia. The two subregions surrounding Afghanistan, South-West Asia and Central Asia, together accounted for more than 56 per cent of the global quantity of heroin and morphine seized
Despite the decline in 2018, the overall trend in seizures of heroin and morphine in that subregion continued to be an upward one over the period 2008–2018. South-West Asia continued to account for the majority of the global quantities of heroin and morphine seized globally in 2018 (close to 56 per cent), with the largest quantities seized being reported by the Islamic Republic of Iran, followed by Afghanistan and Pakistan.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf
'The world’s single largest heroin trafficking route continues to be the so-called “Balkan route”, along which opiates from Afghanistan are shipped to Iran (Islamic Republic of), Turkey, the Balkan countries and to various destinations in Western and Central Europe. Not counting seizures made in Afghanistan itself, countries along the Balkan route accounted for 58 per cent of the global quantities of heroin and morphine seized in 2018. A further 8 per cent of those global seizures were reported by countries in Western and Central Europe, whose markets are supplied to a great degree by heroin and morphine that is trafficked along the Balkan route' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf
'In line with the dominance of the opium production in Afghanistan, quantities of heroin and morphine seized related to Afghan opiate production accounted for some 84 per cent of the global total in 2018, a slight decrease from 88 per cent in 2017, the year of the bumper harvest in the country. Most of the heroin found in Europe, Central Asia/ Transcaucasia and Africa is derived from opium of Afghan origin, accounting for 100 per cent of all mentions in the responses to the annual report questionnaire by countries in Central Asia/Transcaucasia, 96 per cent in Europe and 87 per cent in Africa over the period 2014–2018.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf
'The Islamic Republic of Iran reported that 75 per cent of the morphine and 75 per cent of the heroin seized on its territory in 2018 had been trafficked via Pakistan, while the remainder had been smuggled directly into the country from Afghanistan. Typically, heroin is then smuggled to Turkey (70 per cent of all the heroin seized in the Islamic Republic of Iran in both 2016 and 2017) and from there along the Balkan route to Western and Central Europe, either via the western branch of the route via Bulgaria to various western Balkan countries or, to a lesser extent, via the eastern branch of the route via Bulgaria and then to Romania and Hungary, before reaching the main consumer markets in Western and Central Europe' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf
'The region with the next largest number of methamphetamine laboratories dismantled was Asia, accounting for 6 per cent of the global total in the period 2014–2018. Most of these facilities were dismantled in China and the Islamic Republic of Iran, which together accounted for 94 per cent of all reported laboratories dismantled in Asia, while some clandestine methamphetamine laboratories were also dismantled, in descending order of importance, in Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia, India, the Republic of Korea, Myanmar and Hong Kong, China. In addition, the clandestine manufacture of methamphetamine has been reported in recent years by Afghanistan and Iraq.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf
'Similar to the situation in the United States, where the manufacture of methamphetamine declined while increasing in neighbouring Mexico, both China and Iran (Islamic Republic of) reported declining domestic production, reflected in the decreasing numbers of methamphetamine laboratories dismantled in recent years, going hand in hand with the expansion of methamphetamine manufacture in their neighbouring countries. Indeed, by 2018 the Islamic Republic of Iran reported that most of the methamphetamine found on its territory originated in Afghanistan and was trafficked either from there directly or via Pakistan. Similarly, China reported that methamphetamine seized in recent years has originated primarily in Myanmar. In contrast to many other countries, however, the marked declines in the domestic manufacture of methamphetamine in China appear to have more than outweighed any increase in clandestine manufacture and imports from neighbouring countries. This is revealed in the decline in methamphetamine found in the wastewater in cities across China, with wastewater-based estimates suggesting a fall in methamphetamine consumption amounts of 26 per cent over the period 2014 –2018' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf
'Opium is illicitly produced in some 50 countries worldwide, although the three countries where most opium is produced have accounted for about 97 per cent of global opium production over the past five years. Afghanistan, the country where most opium is produced, which has accounted for approximately 84 per cent of global opium production over the past five years, supplies markets in neighbouring countries, Europe, the Near and Middle East, South Asia and Africa and to a small degree North America (notably Canada) and Oceania. Countries in SouthEast Asia – mostly Myanmar (some 7 per cent of global opium production) and, to a lesser extent, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (about 1 per cent of global opium production) – supply markets in East and South-East Asia and Oceania. Countries in Latin America – mostly Mexico (6 per cent of global opium production) and, to a far lesser extent, Colombia and Guatemala (less than 1 per cent of the global total) – account for most of the heroin supply to the United States and supply the comparatively small heroin markets of South America.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf
'Despite a long-term upward trend, the global area under opium poppy cultivation declined by 17 per cent in 2018 and then by 30 per cent in 2019, falling to an estimated 240,800 ha. Declines in the area under cultivation were reported in both Afghanistan and Myanmar in 2018 and 2019. Despite the recent declines, the global area under opium poppy cultivation is nevertheless still substantially larger than a decade ago and at similar level of the global area under coca cultivation' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf
'Despite global opium production in 2018 being less than in 2017, there have been no indications to date of a shortage in the supply of heroin to the respective consumer markets. In 2018 and 2019, both opium and heroin prices declined in the main opium production areas in Afghanistan, with opium farmgate prices falling by an average of 37 per cent (on a year earlier) in 2018 and by 24 per cent in 2019, while high-quality heroin prices fell by an average of 11 per cent in 2018 and by 27 per cent in 2019 in Afghanistan. Due to the bumper opium harvest of 2017, opium prices showed significant declines at an earlier stage (starting in 2017) than did heroin prices (basically starting in 2018), suggesting that it may have taken some time for clandestine heroin manufacture to adjust to the overall greater availability of opium before expanding, as later reflected in lower heroin prices. At the same time, data also show that, following two years of decreased opium production as compared with 2017, the downward trend in drug prices came to a halt, in the case of opium, in June 2019, and a few months later, in August 2019, in the case of heroin as well.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf
'The largest quantities of both opium and morphine seized were reported by the Islamic Republic of Iran, followed by Afghanistan and Pakistan, while seizures reported by other countries remained comparatively modest. The largest total quantity of heroin seized by a country in 2018 was that seized by the Islamic Republic of Iran (for the first time since 2014), followed by Turkey, the United States, China, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Belgium.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf
'Almost 70 per cent of the global quantities of heroin and morphine (the two main internationally trafficked opiates) seized in 2018 were intercepted in Asia, mostly in South-West Asia. The two subregions surrounding Afghanistan, South-West Asia and Central Asia, together accounted for more than 56 per cent of the global quantity of heroin and morphine seized
Despite the decline in 2018, the overall trend in seizures of heroin and morphine in that subregion continued to be an upward one over the period 2008–2018. South-West Asia continued to account for the majority of the global quantities of heroin and morphine seized globally in 2018 (close to 56 per cent), with the largest quantities seized being reported by the Islamic Republic of Iran, followed by Afghanistan and Pakistan.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf
'The world’s single largest heroin trafficking route continues to be the so-called “Balkan route”, along which opiates from Afghanistan are shipped to Iran (Islamic Republic of), Turkey, the Balkan countries and to various destinations in Western and Central Europe. Not counting seizures made in Afghanistan itself, countries along the Balkan route accounted for 58 per cent of the global quantities of heroin and morphine seized in 2018. A further 8 per cent of those global seizures were reported by countries in Western and Central Europe, whose markets are supplied to a great degree by heroin and morphine that is trafficked along the Balkan route' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf
'In line with the dominance of the opium production in Afghanistan, quantities of heroin and morphine seized related to Afghan opiate production accounted for some 84 per cent of the global total in 2018, a slight decrease from 88 per cent in 2017, the year of the bumper harvest in the country. Most of the heroin found in Europe, Central Asia/ Transcaucasia and Africa is derived from opium of Afghan origin, accounting for 100 per cent of all mentions in the responses to the annual report questionnaire by countries in Central Asia/Transcaucasia, 96 per cent in Europe and 87 per cent in Africa over the period 2014–2018.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf
'The Islamic Republic of Iran reported that 75 per cent of the morphine and 75 per cent of the heroin seized on its territory in 2018 had been trafficked via Pakistan, while the remainder had been smuggled directly into the country from Afghanistan. Typically, heroin is then smuggled to Turkey (70 per cent of all the heroin seized in the Islamic Republic of Iran in both 2016 and 2017) and from there along the Balkan route to Western and Central Europe, either via the western branch of the route via Bulgaria to various western Balkan countries or, to a lesser extent, via the eastern branch of the route via Bulgaria and then to Romania and Hungary, before reaching the main consumer markets in Western and Central Europe' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf
'The region with the next largest number of methamphetamine laboratories dismantled was Asia, accounting for 6 per cent of the global total in the period 2014–2018. Most of these facilities were dismantled in China and the Islamic Republic of Iran, which together accounted for 94 per cent of all reported laboratories dismantled in Asia, while some clandestine methamphetamine laboratories were also dismantled, in descending order of importance, in Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia, India, the Republic of Korea, Myanmar and Hong Kong, China. In addition, the clandestine manufacture of methamphetamine has been reported in recent years by Afghanistan and Iraq.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf
'Similar to the situation in the United States, where the manufacture of methamphetamine declined while increasing in neighbouring Mexico, both China and Iran (Islamic Republic of) reported declining domestic production, reflected in the decreasing numbers of methamphetamine laboratories dismantled in recent years, going hand in hand with the expansion of methamphetamine manufacture in their neighbouring countries. Indeed, by 2018 the Islamic Republic of Iran reported that most of the methamphetamine found on its territory originated in Afghanistan and was trafficked either from there directly or via Pakistan. Similarly, China reported that methamphetamine seized in recent years has originated primarily in Myanmar. In contrast to many other countries, however, the marked declines in the domestic manufacture of methamphetamine in China appear to have more than outweighed any increase in clandestine manufacture and imports from neighbouring countries. This is revealed in the decline in methamphetamine found in the wastewater in cities across China, with wastewater-based estimates suggesting a fall in methamphetamine consumption amounts of 26 per cent over the period 2014 –2018' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf
'Most of the clandestine methamphetamine manufacture in the Near and Middle East/South-West Asia has traditionally been in the Islamic Republic of Iran, being manufactured both for the local market and for export to countries in East and South-East Asia (including Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand) as well as for export to Central Asia and the Caucasus (Azerbaijan, Georgia and Tajikistan) and to Europe (including Bulgaria, France, the Russian Federation, Turkey and the United Kingdom). However, the Islamic Republic of Iran is not the main source of the methamphetamine found in other countries in the Near and Middle East/SouthWest Asia (with the exception of Iraq and the Syrian Arab Republic). The main source countries for other countries in this subregion seem to continue to be countries in East and South-East Asia. The extent of clandestine methamphetamine manufacture in the Islamic Republic of Iran actually appears to be declining, while manufacturing is rapidly increasing in neighbouring Afghanistan.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'Much of the methamphetamine production in these subregions was originally intended for exports to the rapidly growing markets of East and South-East Asia, but domestic markets also appear to have started to emerge in the Near and Middle East/ South-West Asia in recent years. Of 15 reporting countries in these subregions, 12 countries reported the use of methamphetamine by 2018 (or the latest year for which data are available). In the absence of scientific data for the Near and Middle East/South-West Asia, qualitative information on trends in methamphetamine use reported by national authorities to UNODC give an indication of the threat experienced by the region. National authorities have reported a clear upward trend in methamphetamine use in those subregions. Methamphetamine appears to have emerged in the Near and Middle East/South-West Asia as the main ATS used in the Islamic Republic of Iran (2009– 2018) as well as in Iraq (2016 and 2017), Lebanon (2014–2017), Bahrein (2016), Afghanistan (2015 and 2016), Israel (2014 and 2015) and Kuwait (2003, 2009, 2013' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'Morocco, with 47,500 ha reported to be under cannabis cultivation in 2018, continues to be the most frequently mentioned source country for cannabis resin worldwide in the annual report questionnaire, being mentioned in more than a fifth of all cases as the main country of origin of cannabis resin seized worldwide over the period 2014–2018; Morocco was followed by Afghanistan, where, a UNODC survey found, in 2010 an area of 9,000–29,000 ha was under cannabis cultivation. Cannabis resin produced in Morocco is mainly destined for other markets in North Africa and markets in Western and Central Europe. Some cannabis resin of Moroccan origin is also trafficked to Eastern Europe and South-Eastern Europe. Most cannabis resin of Moroccan origin destined for Europe is first shipped to Spain, from where it is smuggled to other markets in the region. For many years, including in the period 2014–2018, Spain has been identified by other European countries as the principal country of departure and transit for cannabis resin, followed by the Netherlands.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf
'Afghanistan appears to be the second most important source country of cannabis resin worldwide, with 19 per cent of all mentions worldwide in the annual report questionnaire over the period 2014– 2018, followed by Pakistan and Lebanon. The cannabis resin produced in these countries is principally destined for other countries in the Near and Middle East/South-West Asia, although cannabis resin originating in Afghanistan has also been identified in Central Asia, Eastern Europe and Western and Central Europe. The Islamic Republic of Iran reported that the cannabis resin found on its territory originated mainly in Afghanistan (followed by Pakistan), with some 65 per cent destined for countries of the Arabian peninsula, 15 per cent for the Caucasus and some 20 per cent for domestic consumption. Cannabis resin originating in Lebanon is mainly found in the Near and Middle East and, to a lesser extent, in Western and Central Europe.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf
Afghanistan and Mexico source the heroin and morphine. Mexico, Thailand, Myanmar and China source the methamphetamine. The Middle East and Eastern Europe sources the amphetamine. The US consumes heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine. Europe consumes heroin, morphine, methamphetamine and amphetamine. Asia consumes heroin, morphine and methamphetamine. Australia consumes methamphetamine. The Middle East consumes heroin and amphetamine. West Asia consumes heroin and methamphetamine. All countries grow and consume cannabis. Opioids, methamphetamine and amphetamines kill the most in terms of drug deaths, cannabis kills none. Who are the leading opponents to cannabis legalization and leading enforcers of global anti-cannabis policy? The countries involved the most in heroin, morphine, amphetamines and methamphetamines. They put on a mask of concern about harms from drugs, produce, sell and consume the most dangerous synthetic drugs and vehemently oppose cannabis legalization worldwide while clandestinely feeding their habits and protecting their sources. They use arms and armies to protect and promote their synthetic drug habits, and drug money to fund and wage a war on cannabis everywhere, pushing man and planet ever closer to death on massive scales and away from the safe, healing cannabis herb...
'Much of the methamphetamine production in these subregions was originally intended for exports to the rapidly growing markets of East and South-East Asia, but domestic markets also appear to have started to emerge in the Near and Middle East/ South-West Asia in recent years. Of 15 reporting countries in these subregions, 12 countries reported the use of methamphetamine by 2018 (or the latest year for which data are available). In the absence of scientific data for the Near and Middle East/South-West Asia, qualitative information on trends in methamphetamine use reported by national authorities to UNODC give an indication of the threat experienced by the region. National authorities have reported a clear upward trend in methamphetamine use in those subregions. Methamphetamine appears to have emerged in the Near and Middle East/South-West Asia as the main ATS used in the Islamic Republic of Iran (2009– 2018) as well as in Iraq (2016 and 2017), Lebanon (2014–2017), Bahrein (2016), Afghanistan (2015 and 2016), Israel (2014 and 2015) and Kuwait (2003, 2009, 2013' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'Morocco, with 47,500 ha reported to be under cannabis cultivation in 2018, continues to be the most frequently mentioned source country for cannabis resin worldwide in the annual report questionnaire, being mentioned in more than a fifth of all cases as the main country of origin of cannabis resin seized worldwide over the period 2014–2018; Morocco was followed by Afghanistan, where, a UNODC survey found, in 2010 an area of 9,000–29,000 ha was under cannabis cultivation. Cannabis resin produced in Morocco is mainly destined for other markets in North Africa and markets in Western and Central Europe. Some cannabis resin of Moroccan origin is also trafficked to Eastern Europe and South-Eastern Europe. Most cannabis resin of Moroccan origin destined for Europe is first shipped to Spain, from where it is smuggled to other markets in the region. For many years, including in the period 2014–2018, Spain has been identified by other European countries as the principal country of departure and transit for cannabis resin, followed by the Netherlands.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf
'Afghanistan appears to be the second most important source country of cannabis resin worldwide, with 19 per cent of all mentions worldwide in the annual report questionnaire over the period 2014– 2018, followed by Pakistan and Lebanon. The cannabis resin produced in these countries is principally destined for other countries in the Near and Middle East/South-West Asia, although cannabis resin originating in Afghanistan has also been identified in Central Asia, Eastern Europe and Western and Central Europe. The Islamic Republic of Iran reported that the cannabis resin found on its territory originated mainly in Afghanistan (followed by Pakistan), with some 65 per cent destined for countries of the Arabian peninsula, 15 per cent for the Caucasus and some 20 per cent for domestic consumption. Cannabis resin originating in Lebanon is mainly found in the Near and Middle East and, to a lesser extent, in Western and Central Europe.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf
Afghanistan and Mexico source the heroin and morphine. Mexico, Thailand, Myanmar and China source the methamphetamine. The Middle East and Eastern Europe sources the amphetamine. The US consumes heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine. Europe consumes heroin, morphine, methamphetamine and amphetamine. Asia consumes heroin, morphine and methamphetamine. Australia consumes methamphetamine. The Middle East consumes heroin and amphetamine. West Asia consumes heroin and methamphetamine. All countries grow and consume cannabis. Opioids, methamphetamine and amphetamines kill the most in terms of drug deaths, cannabis kills none. Who are the leading opponents to cannabis legalization and leading enforcers of global anti-cannabis policy? The countries involved the most in heroin, morphine, amphetamines and methamphetamines. They put on a mask of concern about harms from drugs, produce, sell and consume the most dangerous synthetic drugs and vehemently oppose cannabis legalization worldwide while clandestinely feeding their habits and protecting their sources. They use arms and armies to protect and promote their synthetic drug habits, and drug money to fund and wage a war on cannabis everywhere, pushing man and planet ever closer to death on massive scales and away from the safe, healing cannabis herb...
And you thought that the Americans, Russians, British, Chinese and Indians are in Afghanistan to help the people there re-establish normalcy in their lives...
'Joe Rogan and Abby Martin talks about opium coming from Afghanistan and drug trafficking in America. Also goes into carfentanyl and heroin.'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fj5BEa-IJUY
'Afghanistan has a tradition of opium smoking, and has long been a major source of illegal opiates for eastern and western Europe. In the past decade, Afghans have also reportedly begun to inject heroin and use pharmaceutical opioids. These developments have been attributed to increased heroin availability, civil disruption from insurgency, and the crowding of displaced Afghans into urban areas where heroin and pharmaceutical opioids are readily available.'
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/langlo/article/PIIS2214-109X(14)70299-2/fulltext
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Industrial applications of cannabis
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2019/04/industrial-applications-of-cannabis_23.html
Cannabis and Wellness
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2019/04/cannabis-and-wellness.html
Cannabis and the Media
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2019/04/cannabis-and-media.html
Cannabis Biology
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2019/04/cannabis-biology.html
Industrial Research on Cannabis
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2019/04/industrial-research-on-cannabis.html
Cannabis Research in Universities
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2019/04/cannabis-research-in-universities.html
Government Research on Cannabis
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2019/04/government-research-on-cannabis.html
Cannabis and Technology
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2019/04/cannabis-and-technology.html
Working in the Cannabis Industry
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2019/04/working-in-cannabis-industry.html
Cannabis and the UN
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2019/05/cannabis-and-un.html
Cannabis Opposition
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2019/05/cannabis-opposition.html
Cannabis Laws
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2019/04/cannabis-laws.html
Cannabis and Crime
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2019/04/cannabis-and-crime.html
Cannabis Advocacy
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2019/04/cannabis-advocacy.html
Cannabis convictions and imprisonment
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2019/04/cannabis-convictions-and-imprisonment.html
Cannabis and the Black Market
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2019/04/cannabis-and-black-market.html
Cannabis and Law Enforcement
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2019/04/cannabis-and-law-enforcement.html
Cannabis and Pharma Companies
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2019/04/cannabis-and-pharma-companies.html
Cannabis and Youth
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2019/03/cannabis-and-youth.html
Cannabis and the Environment
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2018/10/cannabis-and-environment.html
Cannabis as an Agricultural Crop
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2018/10/cannabis-as-agricultural-crop.html
Cannabis as Medicine
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2018/10/cannabis-as-medicine.html
Cannabis for Recreational Purposes
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2018/10/cannabis-for-recreational-purposes.html
Cannabis and Research
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2018/10/cannabis-and-research.html
The Business of Cannabis
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2018/10/the-business-of-cannabis.html
The Economics of Cannabis
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2018/10/the-economics-of-cannabis.html
The Legality of Cannabis
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2018/10/the-legality-of-cannabis.html
The Politics of Cannabis
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2018/10/the-politics-of-cannabis.html
The Social Usage of Cannabis
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2018/10/the-social-usage-of-cannabis.html
No medicinal value?
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2019/02/no-medicinal-value.html
Cannabis as Universal Medicine
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2019/04/cannabis-as-universal-medicine.html
Cannabis Patients
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2019/04/cannabis-patients.html
Cannabis and the Elderly
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2019/04/cannabis-and-elderly.html
Cannabis and the Armed Forces
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2019/04/cannabis-and-armed-forces.html
Cannabis and Methamphetamine
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2019/04/cannabis-and-methamphetamine.html
Cannabis and Opioids
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2019/04/cannabis-and-opioids.html
Cannabis and Harm Reduction
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2019/04/cannabis-and-harm-reduction.html
Cannabis and Synthetic Cannabinoids
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2019/04/cannabis-and-synthetic-cannabinoids.html
Cannabis and HIV
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2019/05/cannabis-and-hiv.html
The Recreational Cannabis Consumer
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2019/05/the-recreational-cannabis-consumer.html
The History of Cannabis
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2019/04/the-history-of-cannabis.html
Cannabis and the US Federal Government
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2019/05/cannabis-and-us-federal-government.html
Cannabis and the Medical Industry
With no scientific basis global drug laws are invalid
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2020/06/with-no-scientific-basis-global-drug.html
A Look At The NDPS Act 1985 From A Cannabis Perspective
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2020/08/a-look-at-ndps-act-1985-from-cannabis.html
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2020/06/with-no-scientific-basis-global-drug.html
A Look At The NDPS Act 1985 From A Cannabis Perspective
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2020/08/a-look-at-ndps-act-1985-from-cannabis.html
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2020/03/cannabis-usage-in-19th-century.html
19th Century usage of cannabis as medicine by Indian physicians
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2020/03/19th-century-usage-of-cannabis-as.html
Cannabis and Sickle Cell Disease
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2020/11/cannabis-and-sickle-cell-disease.html
Cannabis and Nausea
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2020/11/cannabis-and-nausea.html
Cannabis and Insanity
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2020/11/cannabis-and-insanity.html
References to medicinal cannabis in ancient texts
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2020/03/references-to-medicinal-cannabis-in.html
Cannabis and the Digestive System
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2020/03/cannabis-and-digestive-system.html
Cannabis and Cocaine
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2020/11/cannabis-and-cocaine.html
Cannabis and Benzodiazepines
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2020/11/cannabis-and-benzodiazepines.html
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