Talk:Opium production in Afghanistan

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[edit] Points on Referencing Article

1. No clear citations.

2. Article does not draw upon mainstream sources, rather tends to rely upon obscure documents from a Swiss security organization-which are in German. The average Wikipedia reader is not expected to know German to verify the truth of what he/she is reading in English.Moreover, what is this organization? What does it do? Is it commissioned by the Swiss government to do the studies?

3. Important dates lacking.

4. Come on guys! discuss this article- That is what Wikipedia is about!!


This acticle is full of figures, facts, dates and references, including the BBC, a UN report and a well-documented, well-accepted book, all in English, plus an independent study by a Swiss organisation. The fact that it is in German does not fault the reality of the story. You can still access it and have it translated if interested. Breaker 23:57, 2 December 2006 (UTC)


The link provided is to the 'swiss security organization's homepage. I don't even know where to begin to start to find the article, especially as neither the title or the author of the reference are cited.Edward Tubb 14:12, 14 February 2007 (UTC) This site: [1] lists 'SicherheitsForum' as a security trade magazine.Edward Tubb 14:18, 14 February 2007 (UTC)


This article is a shame. It's a landamrk in desinformation. Not only does it overlook US, Western, and Pakistani ties to the heroin trade, but it also shows that the guy detained in Gitmo was only a drug addict and a minor drug dealer. This doesnt' deserve being jailed and tortured in Camp X-ray.

As soon as I got time, i'll rectify this article!

also parts of this read like an essay and "but also one of the world's most serious problems" sounds kinda weasely

[edit] Resources to work with

[edit] Editorialism and references

This line should be deleted: "If 'SicherheitsForum' is correct, it is ironic how collaboration between international terrorism and organised crime could cause some global media to talk positively about the Taliban."A phrase such as the above is implicitly damning of literature that presents different findings, and assumes a connection between "international terrorism" and the poppy trade, something not actually that self-evident as one might assume. It is not the place of an encyclopedia article to point out irony based on a conjectural assumption.

Also, I think it's important to provide the most reputable source possible. Though I don't doubt the accuracy of 'SicherheitsForum' it is not in English. If this source were accepted as fact the findings should be cited in other, accessible, English references. There are indeed many, many English documents dealing with the Afghan Poppy trade. Felbab-Brown 2005, "Afghanistan: When Counternarcotics Undermines Counterterrorism" for example provides a similar judgment of Taliban opium policy. Edward Tubb 14:06, 14 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Medical Production

This section is not sourced. It ignores the difficulty inherent in switching Afghan production to licit production. Not in the least because Afghan opium production currently exceeds world demand for licit opiates by several orders, and very few of the major players are likely to benefit from switching (notably, dealer/warlords, farmers, major world licit opium producers like India and Australia).

I suggest that this section be deleted, currently the only licit opium produced in Afghanistan is that confiscated and sold by Iran and medical cultivation is not currently a policy direction in Afghanistan.

A good summary of licit opium production is available here:[2]

Edward Tubb 16:52, 15 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Figures used in the article

"According to the above UN source, Afghanistan saw a bumper opium crop of 4,600 million tonnes in 1999, which was the height of the Taliban rule in Afghanistan" I am not an expert on opium production, and therefore don't feel qualified to edit, but this figure seems to be out by a factor of 1 million. Theeurocrat 12:51, 17 April 2007 (UTC)

Yep, int article http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opium#Illegal_production also numbers in the 5000 tonne range are used. --Xerces8 22:52, 22 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Biased Entry - needs to be rewritten

Did the DEA write this entry?

The first sentence makes a value judgment - that opium production is a "significant problem for the country." That's arguable. It's more a problem for the DEA than for the Afghanis. The article makes several value judgments of the same nature - they are unencyclopedic. I want the facts about opium production in Afghanistan, not someone's opinions of the topic.

The section "Historical Context" makes it seem as if the history of opium production in Afghanistan began in 1979. That's ludicrous. Afghanistan has been producing opium for thousands of years. This biased article totally ignores the cultural history of opium in Afghanistan. During the summer of 2001, the Taliban was busy destroying all the ancient Buddhist artifacts in their country. The author's disrespect for Afghanistan's long history of opium production is similar to the Taliban's disrespect for their history of Buddhism. Afghanistan's history should be preserved no matter what it is, not trampled upon for political reasons.

The article goes on to talk about terrorism. While that might be a related topic, it seems to be the main focus of the author. That perspective is unfair and unrealistic.

The objections to the opposing view - that opium production in Afghanistan is NOT a problem, and should be permitted, are treated as strawmen and not fairly represented in the article.

There is a lot of bias in the entry and it should be rewritten from a neutral point of view.

Kenect2 02:54, 23 May 2007 (UTC)

Wikipedia articles do not have single authors like books and articles. Wikipedia articles are made up by numerous contributions from different people. This article is clearly lacking, and I would recommend you make the changes you wish to see. No one has argued that there wasn't an opium history before 1979, it's just that no one has added the history prior to that year. All Wikipedia articles are works in progress. ~ Rollo44 11:32, 23 May 2007 (UTC)

word dude i deleted the last sentence of the first paragraph that stated that opium production was one of the world's most serious problems. that was ridiculous. - ooorbjoo —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.22.9.26 (talk) 08:27, August 30, 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Pashtun mafia

The opium production in Afghanistan is not controlled by Pashtun mafia, as it states on the article. Pashtun is not the only ethnic group involved in this, there are many different ethnic groups involved. Instead of blaming just one ethnic group, why not mention all the people of Afghanistan, including people from neighboring countries because the king pins are those living safely in Pakistan, Iran, UAE, Tajikistan, Russia, etc. I also agree that the article is biased towards one particular group of people, when only couple of Pashtun people were ever arrested and convicted. --Travler 10:21, 11 July 2007 (UTC)

Yes. The article seems generally weak, and inaccurate compared to what I've heard through the media. I've put a {{accuracy}} on the article. Rwendland 15:03, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Taliban and opium

I thought that the opium production during the Taliban was very low. In complete contrast to what the article says. I will remove the unsourced paragraph. Andries 08:26, 29 September 2007 (UTC)

from See http://opioids.com/afghanistan/index.html

"U.N. drug control officers said the Taliban religious militia has nearly wiped out opium production in Afghanistan -- once the world's largest producer -- since banning poppy cultivation last summer."

Andries 08:29, 29 September 2007 (UTC)