With the Taliban having exceeded expectations and reduced poppy cultivation to levels not seen since 2001, there is now a real need to understand the potential effects of the drugs ban on Afghanistan, the region, and further downstream. For many of us old enough to have seen a particular style of music, or clothes, come round a second or third time, the term “unprecedented” is often overused. Those who are from Afghanistan, or worked there for a sustained period, are likely to feel much the same
  •  Dee   ( @Dee_Imaginarium@beehaw.org ) English
    2•1 year ago

    That really is a crazy drop in production, things are going to get real rough when they run through what they have stored.

    At this stage, with so much inventory in place it certainly seems that concerns that this year’s ban will cause a fentanyl epidemic are likely misplaced but all bets would be off were a second year of a ban imposed, and were the Taliban to move against the trade in the fall of 2023, as is rumoured.

    Does anybody know if this will have a similar effect on the US with fentanyl usage that they’re describing as a possiblity in Europe? I’m not sure where the supply of opium for the US markets comes from tbh