Pubdate: Fri, 27 Jul 2007 Source: Star-News (NC) Copyright: 2007 Wilmington Morning Star Contact: http://www.wilmingtonstar.com Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/500 Author: Bill Finley UGLY BUSNESS EDITOR: . Four hundred seven thousand acres of opium poppies under cultivation right under our noses (in Afghanistan). To put this into perspective, the total acreage for tobacco in the United States for 2006 was only 306,630 acres. I understand that there is some concern about destroying the crop because of its effect on the farmers. There isn't another crop to take its place. But would it hurt to step up the effort to interdict the product as it is moved from the farms of Afghanistan to the processing laboratories in Europe? Do we care if these criminals are put out of business? Just a thought. Bill Finley Southport - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin