Opium production in Afghanistan down sharply

"IN APRIL last year, fields of nodding opium poppies lined every major road in Nangarhar, in eastern Afghanistan. The province produced more opium than any other, contributing to the second—biggest crop in the country's history—and 90% of the world's harvest. This year, Nangarhar's fields are more likely to be growing wheat, or lying fallow. By one estimate, the province has seen a 70% decrease in the area sown with poppies. Can it be that Hamid Karzai, the country's first democratically elected president, has at last begun to turn back the floral tide?"

Ed Lasky   4 17 05