Blogging on Meds

The Guardian Reported that Royal Navy warships in the Gulf intercepted 23 tonnes of hash, cocaine, and opium. Sales of the drugs are said to be funding the Taliban. The Royal Nay’s regional commander said:

The scourge of illegal drugs is a vital source of funding for the Taliban warlords who seek violence against Afghan, British and Nato forces. Our mission in Afghanistan is one of absolute importance, and by seizing these drugs we have dealt a significant blow to the illegal trade.

It’s a good catch by the Royal Navy, but I’m not sure “significant” is the right word. Try miniscule, maybe.

According to the 2008 U.N. World Drug Report, Afghanistan last year produced 8,200 metric tonnes of opium alone, accouting for 92% of the world’s supply of the drug. So, if the Navy’s haul was mostly opium, that’s 0.28% of what Afghanistan produced last year. According to the same U.N. report, drug busts in 2006 resulted in the seizure of nearly 384 tonnes of raw and prepared opium, which is about 4.7% of today’s total opium production in Afghanistan. Antonio Maria Costa, the head of the U.N.’s Office of Drug Crime, estimated that the Taliban earned $100 million from the drug trade in 2007. The number jumped to between $200 million to $400 million if other drug-related activities are included. That’s a lot of money, certainly enough to finance an insurgency and to recruit. Can we get Monsanto in there to give Afghani farmers some genetically modified seeds?

Rahmat Gul/ASSOCIATED PRESS