opium at Brave New Films

Bing West on More Troops to Afghanistan

2008-10-12T02:23:09Z

"Afghanistan is about four times tougher than Iraq," says Bing West.

Afghans resorting to heroin

2008-08-31T16:49:26Z

UN reports say opium production in Afghanistan has fallen for the first time in three years, but another worrying trend is on the horizon.

Al Jazeera's James Bays in Kabul discovers how heroin use among the Afghan population has increased.

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Iranian border police on opium patrol -26 June 08

2008-07-01T04:44:24Z

A UN is to warn in a new report that there is a surge in illegal opium being smuggled from Afghanistan into Pakistan and Iran. Thousands of Iranian forces have died in the 30 year campaign against the narcotics trade. But the US and the European Union are now threatening to cut off crucial funding for those operations unless Iran halts uranium enrichment.Al Jazeera's Nazanine Moshiri reports on the battle between police and drug smugglers from the
Iran-Afghan border.

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Thailand relaunches 'war on drugs' - June 12 2008

2008-06-16T04:43:14Z

Thailand's government has resurrected the country's so-called war on drugs that claimed thousands of lives under Thaksin Shinawatra, the former prime minister. Selina Downes reports from near the Thai-Myanmar border where increased drug smuggling and opium production has prompted the crackdown.

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Misguided Aid in Afghanistan - Washington Post Panel

2008-06-16T09:32:11Z

Complete video at: fora.tv

Washington Post reporter Pamela Constable discusses problems with American aid distribution in post-war Afghanistan. This excerpt is taken from a panel discussion entitled, "Washington Post Panel: America and the World in 2008," recorded in collaboration with the World Affairs Council of Washington, D.C.

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The Council's Annual Washington Post Panel continues with the Foreign News Editors and Correspondents from the Washington Post discussing major world issues facing the country and the new president - World Affairs Council of Washington, D.C.

Pamela Constable has covered South Asia for The Washington Post since April 1999, with extensive coverage of Afghanistan as well as both India and Pakistan.

Before arriving in New Delhi in 1999, Constable worked for The Post from 1994 to 1998 covering immigration and Hispanic affairs in the Washington area, and reported from Honduras, El Salvador, Haiti and Cuba.

Prior to joining The Post, Constable worked for The Boston Globe as deputy Washington bureau chief and foreign policy reporter from June to September 1994. Previously, from 1983 until 1992, she was The Globe's roving foreign correspondent, Latin America correspondent and diplomatic correspondent. During this time she reported from Haiti, Chile, Peru, Argentina, Cuba, Colombia, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Mexico, South Korea, the Philippines, the Soviet Union and Brazil, as well as in Washington.

From 1978 to 1982, she was a staff writer at The Baltimore Sun. Prior to that, she worked as a reporter for the Evening Capital in Annapolis.

She is the co-author with Arturo Valenzuela of A Nation of Enemies: Chile Under Pinochet, and has written articles for Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, Current History and other publications. She was awarded an Alicia Patterson Fellowship in 1990 and the Maria Moors Cabot Prize for coverage of Latin America in 1993.

Constable is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. She received a B.A. from Brown University.

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UN envoy urges Afghans to take security lead 30-04-2008

2008-06-08T09:35:18Z

Kai Eide, the UN envoy for Afghanistan, speaks to Al Jazeera's Seb Walker about security, the Taliban and opium production.

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Iran's drugs war - 11 March 08

2008-06-12T21:29:45Z

One of the Iran's biggest problems is drugs. According to the United Nations more than 60 per cent of the opium that's produced in Afghanistan passes through Iran. The country gets millions of dollars of international assistance every year, but says that's only a fraction of what it needs to fight the drugs trade. Al Jazeera's Nazanine Moshiri reports.

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Wanna get high? I know where you can score some opium.

2008-03-01T16:23:48Z

Dazed and confused:

According to the US State Department, Afghanistan is responsible for the supply of ninety three percent of opium to world markets. [...]
It said that hardline Taliban insurgents have been benefiting most, with growers and traffickers exchanging money and guns for Taliban protection.

No wonder we've been concentrating on Iraq. It's obvious nothing much is going on elsewhere.

Afghanistan cannabis production - 3 December 2007

2008-06-14T03:30:57Z

Afghanistan is well known for its production of opium but Cannabis production has been allowed to boom. Almost half of the country's provinces now grow the drug.
Al Jazeera's Nazanine Moshiri reports from the Balkh province where it's the only way for local farmers to make money.

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Wanna get high? It's easier than ever! Just ask the Taliban.

2008-01-12T20:35:54Z

Ohhhhhhhhh wow, man. Do I know you? Sooo out of it:

Profits from opium fuel the Taliban insurgency, the United Nations said on Friday, in a new call on NATO to tackle Afghanistan's burgeoning drugs trade.

Mmmnnnnmmm. Zflgnbrsmmm?

The U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said the total export value of Afghan opiates stood at about $4 billion, equivalent to more than half of the country's legitimate gross domestic product, confirming estimates it made in August.

Anyone got a tourniquet and some Twinkies?

Taliban insurgents, warlords and drug traffickers shared the bulk of that total, while farmers received about a quarter of the total with district officials taking a percentage through a levy on the crops.

I'm soooo getting clean after this. I promise.

UNODC Executive Director Antonio Maria Costa:

"Destroy the drug trade and you cut off the Taliban's main funding source."

Dude, think about the poppies!

Zahir Tanin, Afghanistan's ambassador to the United Nations says the bulk of opium and heroin now moved out of Afghanistan via two new "Golden Triangles" involving Pakistan and Iran and Turkmenistan.

Anyone got a few thou' on you? I'll pay you back tomorrow, when I go cold turkey. No? No big. It's all cool. I can just steal it. And then kill someone.

The wholesale price of a gram of heroin grew with every border crossed, the report noted, rising from $2.50 in Afghanistan itself to $3.50 in Pakistan and Iran, $8 in Turkey, $22 in Germany, $30 in Britain and $33 in Russia, it said.

Whoa, I need a fix. I'll quit later. Seriously, man. This whole Taliban thing is way too harsh.

Laos concern at maynamar's opium - 23 Oct 07

2008-06-15T09:35:16Z

The so called 'Golden Triangle' of Myanmar, Laos, and Thailand was once one of the world's largest producer of opium.Recent drought hurt production, but now authorities are seeing a resurgence in poppy cultivation - especially in Myanmar.

Thailand and Laos are becoming increasingly concerned about the rise in opium production - and its knock on effects on the local population. Hannah Belcher reports.

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Eradication or "Poppy for medicine" ?

2008-06-15T21:31:03Z

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Afghan farmers growing poppies to survive - 27 Aug 07

2008-06-17T15:29:58Z

AL Jazeera's James Bays travels to Badakstan where the farmers say the depend entirely on opium for their livelihoods.

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Frost Over The World - 24 Nov 06

2008-06-06T15:32:07Z

Hamid Karzai, the president of Afghanistan, tells Sir David Frost that Afghanistan is at the centre of issues of world security.

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Children of Conflict - Afghanistan - Part 1

2008-06-06T15:35:42Z

Children of Conflict looks at the misery, poverty and never ending internal conflict that is the lot of Afghan children.

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Children of Conflict - Afghanistan - Part 2

2008-06-06T15:35:55Z

Children of Conflict looks at the misery, poverty and never ending internal conflict that is the lot of Afghan children.

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Afghanistan - The Toughest Battle - Opium - 17 May 07

2008-06-06T21:29:39Z

Al Jazeera's Zeina Khodr looks at the problem of opium addiction in Afghanistan where the UN says there are one million addicts and that more than 600,000 of these are under 15.

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