Pubdate: Fri, 29 Jun 2007
Source: Montreal Gazette (CN QU)
Copyright: 2007 The Gazette, a division of Southam Inc.
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/montreal/montrealgazette/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/274
Author: Mike Blanchfield, CanWest News Service
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/heroin.htm (Heroin)

LEGALIZING POPPIES NOT AN OPTION: EXPERT

There Would Still Be Much Illegal 'Leakage,' He Says

Many have touted it as a simple and compelling solution to 
Afghanistan's chronic poppy problem: legalize the world-leading opium 
trade to take it out of the hands of criminals and terrorists.

The controversial Senlis Council, the federal Liberal Party, a major 
Canadian foreign policy think tank, even a former Canadian NATO 
ambassador have all advocated some form of legal and controlled opium 
production. Doing so, they argue, would deprive drug dealers of 
massive profits while easing the pain of the world's sick and putting 
money into the pockets of poor Afghan farmers.

William says that's one big pipe dream. In terms of turning from 
illicit to licit production, it just seems like a non-starter," said 
Byrd, who until recently was the World Bank's senior economic adviser 
in Kabul. "It is not feasible for the foreseeable future."

Byrd developed the World Bank's reconstruction strategy for 
Afghanistan following the ouster of its Taliban rulers in late 2001. 
He was responsible for the first economic report on Afghanistan in a 
quarter century.

Byrd, who has a doctorate in economics from Harvard, has since become 
the bank's senior advisor on poverty reduction in Washington. He took 
part in a panel discussion in Ottawa yesterday on the economics of 
the Afghanistan narcotics industry.

In a succinct presentation, aided by a few slides, Byrd 
systematically and dispassionately attempted to debunk the 
legalization argument. Byrd identified the Senlis Council in his main 
slide on the issue, but he just as easily could have pointed a finger 
at the opposition Liberals, the Canadian Defence and Foreign Affairs 
Institute, or Gordon Smith, a distinguished retired public servant 
who served as Canada's NATO ambassador at the end of the Cold War, 
all of whom have endorsed some for of legalization of the Afghan poppy.

Byrd said India is already licensed to legally manufacture opium, but 
it still suffers from a 30 per cent "leakage" of the drug into the 
illicit criminal trade. And that comes in functioning, stable 
democracy, he added.

"What kind of leakage rate would you see in Afghanistan? It's just 
unimaginable. I'm just trying to point out the practical difficulties 
in a country where you don't even have basic rule of law established," he said.

Afghanistan is the biggest producer of illicit opium in the world, 
but it still uses less than 10 per cent of its fertile land, Byrd noted.

"You could have a full scale licensed production and you'll have just 
as much unlicensed illicit drugs."

This week, the United Nation's Office of Drugs and Crime reported 
that Afghanistan's illicit poppy crop has increased by 59 per cent, 
and is now the source of 92 per cent of the world's heroin.

Meanwhile, poppy production in the Golden Triangle of Myanmar, Laos, 
Vietnam and Thailand, the former world leader, has dropped by 80 per 
cent in the last seven years.

Given that Afghanistan produces 90 per cent of the world's illicit 
opium, Byrd said its entry into the legal opium market would affect 
the four main countries already licensed to produce the drug for 
medicinal purposes: India, France, Australia and Turkey.

Those countries would have to reduce their legal production, but 
there's no sign of that happening soon, he said.

Moreover, the Afghan government opposes legalizing opium production 
or mass eradication efforts, he said.
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman