KABUL - An independent monitoring body for the implementation of United Nations drug control conventions has urged Afghanistan – the world’s largest producer of opium – to translate into “concrete action and results” its national drug control strategy, which aims to make the country poppy-free in the next decade.

“The drug control situation in Afghanistan will not improve unless substantial, sustainable and measurable progress is made by the Government in anti-drug trafficking, alternative development and drug demand reduction,” said the 2013 annual report of the Vienna-based International Narcotics Control Board (INCB), released in London on Tuesday.

The INCB report, which provides a comprehensive survey of the drug control situation in various parts of the world, said it is “seriously concerned” that the illicit cultivation of opium poppy increased for three consecutive years since 2010, reaching record levels in 2013 with 209,000 hectares of area under opium poppy cultivation.

“This situation seriously endangers the aims of the international drug control treaties,” the INCB said in the report. “Record-setting poppy cultivation and opium production in 2013 threaten an already fragile security situation in Afghanistan, and neighbouring countries, at a time when international security forces begin their planned withdrawal.”

In its plan presented to donors last month, Afghanistan’s Ministry of Interior Affairs said the Government plans to reduce poppy cultivation and opium production by 50 per cent in the next five years and gradually make the country poppy-free in the next decade.

The Ministry said the these targets would be achieved by implementing the country’s counter-narcotics law and the Ministry of Counter-Narcotics’ Joint Law Enforcement Policy, as well as increasing the capacities of counter-narcotics police and increasing operations which target major drug networks, mafia and smugglers, in addition to major heroin and morphine processing labs.

However, the INCB report said Afghanistan’s eradication efforts and ability to provide alternative development options for farmers have not improved.

In January, a senior UN official also voiced concerns that cultivation, trafficking and use of illicit drugs in Afghanistan still pose a “critical challenge” for the country, which accounted for 74 per cent of global opium production in 2012.

The Executive Director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Yury Fedotov, added that over one million opiate addicts in Afghanistan represent “a national tragedy,” and called on the country to address the growing problem of domestic drug consumption.

In its latest report, the INCB also noted that illicit cannabis cultivation makes Afghanistan a major source country for cannabis resin (hashish).

“The eradication of such illicit cultivation and the suppression of trafficking in cannabis resin have to go hand in hand with the combating of illicit opium poppy cultivation and trafficking,” the report stated.

The independent body said it has been closely monitoring the drug control situation in Afghanistan and has maintained an ongoing dialogue with the Government on issues of concern.

In May 2000, the INCB invoked article 14 of the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs vis-à-vis Afghanistan in order to ensure the execution of international drug control treaties. In doing so, the INCB has drawn the attention of the international community to the issue and called for – at the highest levels – international cooperation to resolve the situation.

“Recognizing the efforts of the Government, and in view of the forthcoming conclusion of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) mission in Afghanistan in 2014, the Board reiterates its call for full and continued support and cooperation from the international community, also from countries in the region,” the INCB report said. “The Board also stresses that eradication of illicit opium poppy can only be achieved if relevant laws are fully respected and implemented while sustainable alternative livelihoods are provided in affected areas.”

In other parts of the report, which has a special focus on the economic consequences of drug abuse, the INCB said investment in the global prevention and treatment of drug abuse can lead to significant savings in health-care and crime-related costs, and alleviate the suffering of drug-dependent users and their families.

“Every dollar spent on drug abuse prevention can save the government up to ten dollars in later costs,” it noted.

According to the report’s findings, only one in six drug users around the world receives the treatment he or she needs at a cost of $35 billion per year, and most commonly, to fight addictions to heroin, cannabis or cocaine.

Related articles: 

- Afghanistan plans to become poppy-free in a decade, seeks continued donor support

- Growing drug consumption in Afghanistan is a ‘national tragedy’ – UN drug and crime agency chief

- Joint UN-Government survey finds opium poppy cultivation at record levels in Afghanistan