Embassy Statement on the Release of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime Report
We welcome the release of the 2009 United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Afghanistan Opium Survey and are encouraged by its findings. This report underscores that our new counternarcotics strategy is fundamental to combating the insurgency in Afghanistan. As the report indicates, the insurgency-narcotics nexus is increasingly under attack, and the risks to drug traffickers are growing.
We are pleased to note that total poppy cultivation in Afghanistan fell again this year, as did opium production. We are committed to building on these positive trends, and are expanding our programs to support Afghanistan’s counter-narcotics efforts, including targeting drug traffickers, fostering agricultural development, and addressing addiction in Afghanistan. The challenges of reducing poppy cultivation in Afghanistan remain complex and significant, and only with a combined effort on counterinsurgency, counternarcotics, development, and governance can the scourge of the opium trade be defeated.