'', AFP, 27 February 2009

EXCERPT: "Afghanistan remained the largest opium poppy producer, which increasingly fuels the Islamist insurgency there, despite a 19-percent drop in cultivation last year, the US government said Friday. The report, which evaluates anti-drug efforts country by country, said: 'Opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan declined in 2008 by 19 percent, after two years of record highs.' The 2009 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report cited the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), which said opium poppy cultivation declined from 193,000 hectares (477,000 acres) in 2007 to 157,300 hectares (388,700 acres) in 2008. The fall resulted from 'a combination of poor weather conditions, decreased opium prices relative to other crops, and improved governance and security in key provinces,' the report added. The report said 'cultivation was largely confined to five contiguous provinces in the south of the country near the borders with Pakistan and Iran.'"

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To continue reading the "2009 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report - Volume I: Drug and Chemical Control" report, click [pdf].

See also:
'Factbox: Global narcotics activity in 2008 - US report', Reuters UK, 27 February 2009
'Stop the Afghan drug trade, stop terrorism', Forbes, 26 February 2009
'Afghanistan: US escalates the illegal drug industry', Global Research, 25 February 2009

Related posts:
'2008 opium crop was second biggest: UN report', 20 February 2009
'Afghan opium poppy production expected to fall: UN', 2 February 2009
'Afghanistan's opium poppies: No quick fixes', 19 June 2008
'NATO urged to do more for Afghan drugs problem', 13 May 2008
'Economic incentives and development initiatives to reduce opium production', 5 February 2008