SENLIS COUNCIL NEWS RELEASE
21 NOVEMBER 2005
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IN LIGHT OF ESCALATING VIOLENCE IN AFGHANISTAN, THINK TANK CALLS FOR UK GOVERNMENT TO IMPLEMENT NEW TACTICS TO TACKLE AFGHAN DRUG CRISIS
Britain should support opium production for medicines in Afghanistan
Britain has invested millions in a failed drug strategy in Afghanistan – more money is to be spent on same strategies in coming years
Think tank proposal turns Afghan opium problem around: instead of being eliminated – poppy cultivation should be placed under Government control for the production of essential medicines
“A licensing system in Afghanistan for the production of opium would create an enabling environment for the reinforcement of security, development of a stable democracy and the rule of law,” says Director
LONDON - In the light of the increasing violence and instability and the failure of current drug control strategies in place in Afghanistan to achieve effective results, The Senlis Council, an international drug policy think tank with operations in Afghanistan, today called on the UK Government to review the drug control policies it is currently implementing in Afghanistan. The UK is the lead country of the coalition in Afghanistan for counter narcotics since 2001.
At a high-level meeting at Chatham House, London, the think tank presented the results of its Feasibility Study on a licensing system under which opium would be cultivated for the production of pain relief medicines such as morphine and codeine. Under a licensing system, the Afghan Government would control poppy cultivation for the production of opium-based pain killers, rather than trying to suppress it.
“It is totally unrealistic to even attempt to eliminate the crop which accounts for as much as 60% of the country’s economy,” said Emmanuel Reinert, Executive Director of The Senlis Council.
The Council said that the results of the Report show that licensing Afghan opium is an appropriate response to the drug problem – whereas the current military response is ineffective and will increase instability in the fledgling democracy.
“It is a pipe dream to believe that the goal of the reconstruction of Afghanistan will be achieved by using force against Afghan poppy farmers” said Reinert. “Opium licensing would provide an effective solution for Afghanistan and although the current strategy shares this same end goal of a stable economy and democracy for Afghanistan, it is deeply misguided in responding with violence against the Afghan people. How can one hope to achieve stability and gain the support of the farmers for a new Afghanistan through the destruction of the crops that provide for their families?”
The Report notes that because the drug crop is equivalent to 60% of the country’s GDP it represents an important economic problem for the country and so can no longer be considered uniquely as a drug issue.
“An economic crisis cannot be resolved by implementing militarised and aggressive anti-drug strategies,” said Reinert. “Currently, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime’ policy assessment for Afghanistan is incorrect, because it supports this type of response.”
“It is the UK’s responsibility as the lead country on drug policy to seriously examine all the possibilities available to combat Afghanistan’s enormous illegal drug cultivation,” said Raymond Kendall, Former Secretary General of Interpol, who spoke about the security implications behind a licensing scheme at the meeting. “In the light of the failure of the current drugs strategy, the UK must question whether the approach it is taking is working or not and reorganise its priorities if necessary – the intentions are good, but the methodology is wrong.”
Security, the rule of law and the establishment of a control system: a major challenge in Afghanistan
The Report concludes that security and control are major challenges facing Afghanistan, but that a licensing system could in fact generate the right conditions and an opportunity for the creation of a successful democracy and the establishment of the rule of law.
“A licensing system would require a strong control system and strong rule of law, but it also appears that it may provide the right conditions and environment for those to develop,” said Mr Kendall.
“As a former police officer, given the results of the study so far, my analysis would be that the control system needed to implement the current militarised drug war strategy is probably far more costly and difficult to apply than the one which would be needed under a licensed system where you would have the support of farmers and communities”.
The Senlis Council report indicates that because a licensing system would preserve farmers’ livelihoods, it would strengthen the Afghan state rather than weaken it.
“Fighting a drug war in Afghanistan is a dangerous strategy to pursue,” said Mr Kendall. “Depriving people of their livelihoods is bound to create conflict. It would be unproductive for the British Army to become the enemy of ordinary Afghan people – a military response to this economic and social issue could very well lead to conflict between the British Army and the Afghan farmers, which should obviously be avoided.”
Talking to the farmers
“In our many conversations with farmers and other Afghans involved in the drug trade during our field work in Afghanistan, it is clear that these people are only involved in the drug trade by necessity,” said Reinert. “It has been made clear to us that given the choice, farmers and traders prefer a legal income over an illegal one.”
Flipping the paradigm: it’s a question of development, not of a war on drugs
Emmanuel Reinert, Executive Director of The Senlis Council said that development strategies must play an increasingly important role in drug policy in Afghanistan.
“Drugs and development are deeply inter-woven in Afghanistan. Any drug strategy must also provide development solutions for the country – one cannot exist without the other. The current approaches that are initiated and run by the military and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime are approaching the problem from the wrong paradigm. The drug policy response in Afghanistan should be in the hands of the development community who are able to have good working relationships with the communities affected.
The Council said that a licensing system for opium production in Afghanistan would provide a development strategy for the country, not only because it would offer the country new legal livelihoods, but also because it gives Afghanistan a unique chance to enter the world economy by providing an essential ingredient in the treatment of pain.
Public money wasted on ineffective approaches
“Vast sums of the British public’s money have been spent since 2001 on failing policies,” said Reinert. “If only a portion of the £55 million that Britain has invested in 2005 alone in Counter Narcotics were to be spent on the creation of a licensing system for the production of medicines, a chance would be given to the people of Afghanistan to get out of the vicious circle in which they find themselves.”
In September Dr Kim Howells, Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, declared that the UK would commit over £270 million in counter-narcotics efforts for the next three years. It has also recently been announced that the UK will send another 2000 troops to Afghanistan who will in part be involved in counter-narcotics operations.
Vital pain-relief medicines could be produced by Afghanistan
Under a licensing system, Afghan opium would be used to produce vital pain-relieving medicines such as morphine and codeine that could help the millions of people, particularly in developing countries, who are unnecessarily dying in pain because they do not have access to them. The World Health Organisation has estimated that by the year 2015 there will be 10 million cancer cases per year in the developing world.
Only seven countries consume 77% of global morphine. (US, UK, France, Spain, Italy, Australia and Japan) In the meantime, developing countries, with 80% of the world’s population, make up a mere 6% of global consumption. Many governments are not able to provide care to the rising number of patients with AIDS or cancer. The University of Toronto, who participated in The Senlis Council’s Report, estimated in that even in the seven main consumer countries, a mere 24% of pain needs are being met.
Licensing would provide an alternative to current failing strategy
“Current approaches to the opium problem in Afghanistan are failing as the figures released by UNODC in August this year show,” said Reinert. “The drug economy is clearly out of hand under the current control strategy. The whole approach needs rethinking.”
According to the figures released by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in 2004 Afghanistan was responsible for 87% of the world’s supply of illegal opium, with a harvest of 4100 metric tonnes. This was despite heavy poppy eradication in many provinces. 365,000 families – 3.5 million Afghans – are involved in the opium trade, which accounts for 60% of Afghan GDP. This opium later ends up on Europe’s streets as heroin – 90% of the drug found on British streets is thought to originate in Afghanistan.
UK already grows Opium for Medicine
The UK is among the countries which already grow opium for the production of opium-based pain-killers such as morphine or codeine. Other countries are France, Spain, Australia, India and Turkey.
“If farmers from the UK or France can benefit from such a system, why wouldn’t Afghan farmers?” asked Reinert.
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