ICOS NEWS RELEASE
14 NOVEMBER 2005
Español
New Afghan Parliament must treat drug problem as priority for development and reconstruction
Current strategy failing to address Afghan drug problem as development issue, says Think Tank
Afghan opium could be cultivated under licence for production of pain-relief medicine to help Afghan integration into world economy
KABUL – ICOS, a leading international drug policy think tank, called on the newly formed Afghan Parliament to tackle the drugs problem in the nascent democracy in order to give Afghanistan a solid base from which to grow.
The Council urged the newly elected lower house of parliament, the Wolesi Jirga, to take this opportunity to reconsider the counter-narcotics strategies currently in place.
“Current approaches to the opium problem in Afghanistan are failing as the figures released by United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in August show,” said Emmanuel Reinert, executive director of ICOS.
The figures in the UNODC 2005 Opium Survey show that Afghanistan is still producing 87% of the world’s opium despite heavy poppy eradication in some provinces. Opium is the livelihood of more than 3 million Afghans.
Drug policies must include development strategies
The Council said that development strategies must play an increasingly important role in drug policy in Afghanistan.
“Drugs and development are inter-related in Afghanistan,” said Reinert. “Any drug strategy implemented by the newly-formed government must take this into account by also providing development solutions.”
The Council pointed to its recently released a report on Opium Licensing in Afghanistan for the Production of Morphine and Other Essential Medicine. The think tank presented the initial findings of the study in September at an international drug policy conference in Kabul.
An opportunity for Afghanistan to enter the world economy
Opium licensing would allow farmers to cultivate poppy under state control in order to manufacture morphine and codeine, two of the most effective painkillers available. The medicines produced under such a system would then be used to address the mounting shortage of pain relief medication around the world, as well as in Afghanistan itself.
“A licensing system for opium production in Afghanistan would provide the country with new legal livelihoods and new ways of reintegrating itself into the world economy by providing developing countries with an essential ingredient in the treatment of pain,” Reinert explained. “It would also encourage the establishment of the rule of law in Afghanistan by assimilating the population currently participating in the illegal production of opium into the formal economy.”
“A new parliament is an opportunity to discuss what is best for Afghanistan,” Reinert said. “We sincerely hope that the Wolesi Jirga will take this chance to reassess current strategies and consider all the options available that could help in the rapid reconstruction of Afghanistan.”
|