Afghanistan: Taliban bans opium poppy cultivation, drug trade

Taliban said on Sunday that they prohibited the cultivation of Opium Poppy, which was used as raw materials to produce illegal drugs such as heroin.

The ban came during the opium harvest season in South Afghanistan, and a Taliban spokesman said that farmers can be imprisoned and their plants burned if they harvest poppy.

Opium Poppy is an important job source and income in Afghanistan, with millions of farmers relying on opium harvesting to survive.

Because the Taliban took over Afghanistan in August 2021, the country’s economy collapsed after international donors withdrew funds. Without international support, a lot of work in the public and private sectors dries.

Humanitarian organizations warn that Afghanistan can face a crisis of hunger, because people don’t have enough money to buy food.

Given the prohibition of opium, Deputy Prime Minister Abdul Salam Hanafi has requested international donors for their cooperation to help find alternative businesses for farmers, Afghan media tolo news reported.

Afghanistan is the world’s top opium source, accounting of more than 80% of the supply of world opium products, according to the Narcotics Office and UN crimes.

Afghanistan generates annual income of at least $ 1.8 billion (€ 1.6 billion) from producing opium products, according to UN data.

The Taliban had imposed a similar ban on opium trade at the end of 1994 and early 1995. But the ban was poured after the Taliban was removed from power in 2001.