"It's Time to End the Fifty Year War on Drugs."

Interpol released a bulletin on its web site which reads as follows:

Heroin, a depressant which affects the central nervous system, is derived from opium cultivated in four principal areas: southwest Asia, Southeast Asia, Colombia and Mexico.

Global production estimates generated by the United States and the United Nations for 2004 vary by over 150 metric tons, yet both estimates reflect the dominance of
Afghanistan as the world’s principal source of heroin. The US government estimates for 2004 indicated potential production of 582 metric tons in Afghanistan, with significant declines noted in Southeast Asia, Colombia and Mexico, for total estimated global production of 627.8 metric tons. Based on these numbers Afghanistan accounted for 92% of the world’s potential supply of heroin.

The crop estimates generated by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) for 2004 differed significantly, citing only 420 metric tons of potential heroin production in Afghanistan (based on an average opium-to-heroin conversion ratio of 10 to 1) and total global potential production of 472 metric tons. These estimates suggested Afghanistan accounts for 87% of the world’s heroin supply.

Europe remains the primary market for heroin, accounting for one-third of the world’s opiate consumption. Despite the increased production in southwest Asia, the European demand for heroin appears to be stable. North America is the second-largest market, and the introduction of high-purity Colombian heroin produced a new generation of heroin addicts since the drug can be snorted like cocaine rather than injected. Nearly the entire supply of heroin to the United States originates in Mexico and Colombia, and abuse indicators suggest demand for heroin is starting to decrease.

"Southwest Asian heroin supplies consumers across Europe, Central Asia, Russia, where demand is increasing, and the Commonwealth of Independent States. Reports indicate that Iran has a persistent heroin abuse problem as well as serves as a critical transit point for heroin destined to Europe. Estimates suggest 2 million Iranians are drug addicts, with 1.2 million addicted to heroin.

A UN UNIS/NAR/877
18 January 2005 report, UNIS/NAR/877
18 January 2005 states:

UNODC’s message reflects an increasing concern about the symbiotic relationship between drugs, crime and terrorism, an alliance, which Mr. Costa says, “continues to fund a host of heinous enterprises -- from child trafficking to prostitution, to arms smuggling, corruption, and terrorist attacks on innocent populations around the world.”

The recent exchange of letters between UNODC and the European Commission also highlights the close links between international drug trafficking and global crime, and offers both organizations new opportunities to partner in the fight against this dual threat. Mr. Costa says that these joint efforts will play out in the Balkans, the Middle East, Central Asia, the Andean region, Afghanistan, and in Africa.

Mr. Costa will also present the audience with an update on drug cultivation and production, as well as new statistics on drug use. “Cultivation,” reports Mr. Costa, “is lower everywhere, but is rising in Afghanistan. The supply of heroin coming out of that country is so abundant that purity has skyrocketed. As a result, overdoses are rising in Northern and Western Europe, and we can expect a significant increase in drug-related deaths.”

Conclusion:

US and European drug addicts constitute a severe security as well as a social risk to both Europe and the US. Nato troops are dying in Afghanistan in part due to the bizarre connection of European and Iranian drug addiction, narco-terrorism, and the Global War on Terror. The connection is money. It is time to take the money away from the jackals that cater to drug addicts. Drug addiction is a social and security menace. The addicted will do anything to get the money to satisfy their habit. The only way to remove the profit incentive is for society to identify the addicts, give them the drugs and hopefully help them to escape the addiction.