If I had to find similarities between the United States and Afghanistan, one would be the trafficking of heroin across their borders.
The U.S. not only faces problems with drug trafficking in Mexico but also in Afghanistan.
In Mexico, drug cartels and gangs bribe border patrol, police and government officials. In an impoverished country where drugs threaten lives and exist as the only source of economic stability, how can anyone just say no?
In addition to the gangs and heavy supply of drugs in Mexico, a weakly guarded and porous border spreads across the desert. All of these elements are reflected in Afghanistan.
After the U.S. invaded Afghanistan in 2001, the world supply of heroin rose dramatically. For those who don’t know, opium poppy is Afghanistan’s No. 1 cash crop and is used to manufacture heroin.
Afghan opium production increased from 3,200 metric tons in 2002 to 8,200 metric tons in 2007, according to a 2007 U.N. report.
Afghanistan’s opium production is used to fund insurgencies against invading U.S. forces. The money from Afghan opium trickles through everyone in the country — from farmers to police to government officials. Outside the country, Afghan opium production is a $65-billion industry.
Afghanistan is now responsible for 92 percent of the world’s opium supply.
Most of this supply is distributed throughout Pakistan, Russia, Europe and China. Russia has been hit hard with heroin use, as deaths resulting from AIDS have exploded from 1,900 people in 2001 to 40,000 in 2007, 80 percent of which resulted from dirty needles.
The U.S. war in Afghanistan strongly influences Russia’s rising heroin statistics. After the U.S. went into Afghanistan, the Taliban needed more weapons and money, facilitating increased opium production. Russian gangsters trade military weapons with Taliban drug lords for heroin, fueling the vicious cycle with the U.S. military.
Along with escalating heroin use in Russia, more U.S. troops are also becoming addicted to the drug. Over the past four years, drug use among U.S. soldiers has doubled. Some troops are beginning to ship heroin from Afghanistan back home. The longer the U.S. stays in Afghanistan means more troops coming back with a serious drug addiction.
More than 100,000 people around the world are lost each year to heroin. Russia’s heroin crisis began after an occupation of Afghanistan. Our military presence must end in Afghanistan before we suffer the same fate and bring this epidemic back to the United States.
Kyle Cooper is a MIS junior.
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