The Taliban’s Opium Ban: A Success or a Failure?

Jun 13, 2023 | Altaf Moti
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Afghanistan is the world’s biggest opium producer and a major source for heroin in Europe and Asia. Production spiraled over the past 20 years despite billions of dollars spent by the U.S. trying to stop poppy cultivation. Opium poppy is a cash crop that has long been a source of income and livelihood for Afghan farmers, especially in the south and southwest regions of the country. However, it is also a major contributor to the global drug problem, as opium is processed into heroin and other illicit substances that fuel addiction, crime and violence. The United Nations estimates that Afghanistan accounted for 84 percent of the world’s opium production in 2020, generating about $1.4 billion for the Afghan economy.