Drugs are bad. I’m not talking about the kind people smoke to chill out after work, though. I mean the stuff people snort and waste their entire lives trying to get more of. Snow. Blow. Crack. Cocaine. It ruins families, drains investment and productivity from the economy, funds terrorist groups, and supports authoritarian regimes. Yet the problem has been almost impossible to counter because high consumer demand has driven up prices, which has in turn made it a much more valuable cash crop compared to other agricultural products. For years, the U.S. government has tried to wipe out the supply chain to no avail, as it cannot directly interfere in many countries’ internal affairs who do not want to cooperate. And the limited success that it has had is muted by the fact that supply shortages only drive prices up further, making up for the difference in losses.

While I agree in theory that the War On Drugs is both a necessary and responsible thing, I do not agree with how it has been executed. I have always believed that in order to decrease both supply and prices of drugs, and thus decrease the flow of money into the hands of terrorist groups and authoritarian governments, ways must be found to decrease demand for addictive drugs; such as information campaigns, etc. But if the United States government, or any other government for that matter, is going to insist on the illegality of growing coca or opium, then it needs to provide a legal and comparative alternative for the poor farmers that grow it.

Afghanistan is a country where the United States has the best chance to make eradication efforts work, given its large military presence in the country and its influence over the new Afghan government. It is the largest opium producer in the world, with most of its exports criss-crossing Central Asia into Europe. The money that is made from this trade is unbelievable, and its importance to the Afghan economy phenomenal. The Asian Development Bank describes the problem:

Over recent years, opium poppy cultivation has spread to every corner of Afghanistan. In 2004, poppy cultivation increased by as much as 64%, pouring $2.8 billion in illicit revenue into the pockets of warlords and traffickers????????with only a small fraction of that going to the poor farmers who produce the poppy. The farmers are all too often bound to traffickers through opium debt.

Afghanistan????????s illicit opium economy represented as much as 52% of the country????????s legal gross domestic product in 2004, according to UNODC.

Although the amount of land and labor resources used for opium production is relatively small????????only about 7% of the country????????s irrigated land area in 2004???????? as many as two million Afghans are involved in opium production, earning far higher incomes from poppy cultivation than from any other activities, says UNODC. In 2003, the average gross income per hectare (ha) from opium cultivation exceeded that of wheat????????the main alternative crop????????by as much as 27 times.

While the farm gate price of opium plummeted in 2004, opium poppy still remained at least 10 times more profitable than any other cash crop, and also provided wage labor as much as five times the market wage for rural unskilled labor.

Yet the United States at first tried the same old eradication efforts it has tried elsewhere, such as Colombia. But the result is the same. It didn’t work. The power of the warlords and the lack of power on the part of the Afghan government contributed to this, but the entire point of poppy eradication is to undercut their power in the first place. So eradication won’t work because the farmers will simply start growing it again. The alternative must be a similarly paying crop or job. According to the article above, that won’t be easy, as GDP per capita would have to increase by five times.

However, some interesting suggestions have been made, and they might just work. Radio Free Europe has an article about an experiment growing saffron as an alternative crop, which has proven to have a high and valuable yield. Packaged and marketed correctly, one kilogram of saffron could rake in up to $2000. It requires a lot of labor and would provide many legal jobs for Afghan farmers. According to the article, interest is high in such a product, so it could prove to be the alternative that is needed to get money in people’s pockets and undercut tribal powers.

Another possible solution is finding an alternative use for the opium itself. Instead of it being trafficked and abused illegally, its production could be made legal for certain uses. Almost all of the plant can be used for different things. It can be used to produce morphine, to make pretty flower arrangements, and even bake bread. This can be used for the diminishing crop of opium as completely different crops are introduced, while drug smugglers are still cracked down on.

What is surprising to me is how long it took the government to employ these methods after so much repeated failure elsewhere. It is obvious that the old methods are not sufficient to curb its exploitation. The warlords are making a killing off of the opium, and are using it to consolidate their power and house neo-Taliban fighters. They don’t have to be fought with guns and CIA agents, however. Their money tree just has to be replaced with saffron.