Afghan opium the most lethal drug worldwide, U.N. says
Tom Lasseter - McClatchy NewspapersIssue date: 10/22/09 Section: Real News
McClatchy Newspapers published a series of articles earlier this year that traced the flow of opium from Afghanistan through Tajikistan - a main Central Asian conduit - to Russia.
The articles found that Western inaction during the years after the 2001 U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan opened the way for Afghan opium to fuel corruption throughout Afghanistan, turn Tajikistan into a borderline narco-state and create thousands of new addicts in Russia.
Russia is now the world's largest consumer of heroin, according to the U.N. report. At least 70 tons of Afghan heroin were consumed in Russia last year, the report says, more than three times the amount in the United States and Canada combined and higher than previous estimates.
The number of addicts in Russia has multiplied tenfold during the past decade, and there are now 30,000 to 40,000 Russian drug-related deaths each year, according to Russian government figures cited by the report. Official Russian news services have said that up to 30,000 of those deaths are due to Afghan heroin.
Russian leaders repeatedly have voiced their anger about the lack of a Western crackdown on Afghan opium, and the issue was brought up during President Barack Obama's and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's visits to Moscow this year.
In May, the head of Russia's federal drug-control service, Viktor Ivanov, said that about 180 Afghan drug cartels were trafficking heroin to Russia.
"The majority of these 180 drug cartels are based in the U.S. and NATO areas of responsibility," Ivanov said.
The articles found that Western inaction during the years after the 2001 U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan opened the way for Afghan opium to fuel corruption throughout Afghanistan, turn Tajikistan into a borderline narco-state and create thousands of new addicts in Russia.
Russia is now the world's largest consumer of heroin, according to the U.N. report. At least 70 tons of Afghan heroin were consumed in Russia last year, the report says, more than three times the amount in the United States and Canada combined and higher than previous estimates.
The number of addicts in Russia has multiplied tenfold during the past decade, and there are now 30,000 to 40,000 Russian drug-related deaths each year, according to Russian government figures cited by the report. Official Russian news services have said that up to 30,000 of those deaths are due to Afghan heroin.
Russian leaders repeatedly have voiced their anger about the lack of a Western crackdown on Afghan opium, and the issue was brought up during President Barack Obama's and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's visits to Moscow this year.
In May, the head of Russia's federal drug-control service, Viktor Ivanov, said that about 180 Afghan drug cartels were trafficking heroin to Russia.
"The majority of these 180 drug cartels are based in the U.S. and NATO areas of responsibility," Ivanov said.
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