Bridging of Afghanistan with the European Drug Market

Tajikistan is a country that you might have to look at a map to locate, it's a small country situated on the Afghan northern border. A landlocked country, 90 percent of Tajikistan's surface is covered by mountains; with Kyrgyzstan to the North, China to the east, Afghanistan and Pakistan to the South, and Uzbekistan to the west. Tajikistan suffered severely from a bloody civil war from 1992-97, creating a vacuum where conditions were perfect for lawlessness to fester; a perfect trade route to export Afghan opium for heroin production around the world. The ultimate goal for drug traffickers in Afghanistan is to transport their drugs to Russia and then on to the Western European markets. Traffickers have found a better route than Tajikistan for moving their product - Iran has become the channel to move the world's heroin. Russia, with a population of 142 million, is a large market for Afghan heroin and is a key stop in the bridging of Afghanistan with the European drug market.

An increase in stability has developed in Northern Afghanistan, making it very difficult to smuggle drugs into Tajikistan finding alternative routes is the natural course when ever obstructed. "The amount of drugs seized (in Tajikistan) in 2009 is noticeably smaller than in 2008", said Rustam Nazarov to Reuters, who is the head of Tajikistan's state Drug Control Agency, adding that some 4.5 tons of illicit drugs were intercepted in 2009. Afghanistan produces more opium than any other country and the world has a vested interest in stopping the flow of traffic; Tajikistan claims that they seize two-thirds of the drugs moving through the country; however, the number is believed to be much lower - around one-tenth of all the opium being smuggled is seized.

The United States and several other NATO allies have been trying to urge Afghani farmers to grow other cash crops like wheat. A very difficult task when you factor how long the farmers in that region have been cultivating opium poppies. "Last year, the United States spent about $300 million on agriculture projects there and projected spending this year is more than $425 million, not including separate funds from U.S. military coffers handed out by troops in the field", reports Reuters. A lot of money but will it be enough to stop the flow?

At the end of the day you would think that one country is happier, Tajikistan; the less smuggling that occurs would create more stability. The new U.S. funded Tajik-Afghan bridge makes Tajikistan still a viable trafficking option even if the amount crossing the border is reduced, heroin will still find its way to Russia via Tajikistan. Unfortunately, the stability of the entire region is contingent upon Afghanistan and their opium production. "Unfortunately the drugs situation in our country and the region as a whole solely depends on the situation in Afghanistan," Nazarov said to Reuters. "Only when there is law and order in Afghanistan there will be law and order in our country."

The War on Drugs has Been a Total Failure

The world is beginning to look at drugs in a new way; we rest at the precipice of a revolution in drug legislation. More countries than ever are in agreement that the war on drugs has been a total failure creating an unstoppable monster. There is no question as to whether or not drugs play a huge role in the destruction of lives; the way in which drug offenders are policed and treated like second class citizens plays an even more devastating part. The best defense against drug addiction is education and the best defense against traffickers is less demand. Heavy fines and imprisonment only throw fuel on an already out of control fire. The argument that drugs are bad for you and that punishment is the only solution is not holding as much water as it once did. Countries around the world are focusing less on policing drug use; more emphasis is being placed on regulation and education.

Basically, it works like this: the illegal nature of drugs has caused the price of drugs to increase to the point where an addict needs to be rich to afford their addiction, addicts are forced to commit criminal acts like robbery and prostitution in order to compensate for their lack of inheritance, addicts break the law while getting high and they break the law while acquiring the money to afford the high. It's a vicious circle that usually ends tragically; the war on drugs has created a vacuum that traps addicts into a life where the only option is death or jail. I read an interesting article by Chris Middendorp who writes for the Sydney Morning Herald. Dealing with the subject, he made a good point: this is not about morals or laws, but, the overall welfare of human beings that should be the focus. "In several Latin American countries and in mainland Europe, legislators have already brought about significant reforms in drug policy in recent times. This has not involved an open-slather legalisation of drugs, but the decriminalisation of personal possession and use. Most famously, in 2001 Portugal decriminalised all drugs - from heroin to cocaine - and, to many people's surprise, overall drug use actually fell. In Switzerland, giving addicts free heroin in supervised clinics has been deemed a success, with begging, prostitution, homelessness and burglary all dropping dramatically. A national referendum in 2008 voted overwhelmingly to retain the program, which began as a trial in 1994".

America is on the verge of joining the mindset that the drugs are not the problem - we are. If money that was spent on policing drugs was diverted towards regulation and education it would be a big step forward. Not to mention that that is the only way we will ever deal a severe blow upon the drug cartels. Obama realizes that the war on drugs has been a failure and that we need to handle this differently; this could change everything, for years the USA has set many trends worldwide as far as a zero tolerance on drugs goes. If the United States takes a different route than many other countries would follow.