Speeches
Statement by Ambassador William B. Wood on Drug Day
June 26, 2007
Today, on the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, I want to stress again the cruelty of drugs for those who produce them and those who consume them. The drug trade is the 21st century equivalent of the slave trade, not different from the version of centuries ago because the slaves acquiesce in the early stages of their slavery. The drug trade destroys freedom, engenders violence, separates families, and produces a level of human suffering unimaginable to those who have not experienced it in their own lives. The truly addictive drugs like heroin and opium even destroy the ability to worship god, by capturing the soul of the addict and substituting the false drug god in its place.
As the UNODC World Drug Report will indicate today, Afghanistan is the world’s largest source of opium and heroin, two of the most addictive drugs in the world. Although figures are still preliminary Afghanistan is producing at least 180,000 hectares of opium poppy for the drug trade. This is up from almost 170,000 a year ago, about 74,000 hectares in 2002, and 42,000 hectares in 1990. So this is not a “traditional” crop. The growth is simply criminal activity for profit.
Helmand province alone is responsible for roughly half the national Afghan production. Production there has continued to skyrocket, more than offsetting decreased production in other provinces like Balkh and Badakhshan. This is in spite of the fact that Helmand province has received more economic assistance than any other province in Afghanistan for the past five years – over $200 million from the US alone. They have an alternative. But the citizens of Helmand are choosing to grow drugs, or are being forced into it by drug traffickers.
There is a growing consensus among the international community that our goal for a peaceful, democratic, developing Afghanistan is threatened by the rampant, inhuman drug trade. According to UNODC estimates, more than 3 million Afghans are directly involved in opium poppy cultivation, or close to 15 percent of the population. So there is a danger that Afghan culture will become a criminal drug culture. Drug trafficking rejects rule of law, stimulates corruption, undermines traditional and modern political institutions, creates rival centers of illegitimate power, fuels the insurgency and terrorism of the Taliban, blocks development assistance, and frightens away free enterprise. In short, it threatens to condemn Afghanistan to violence, poverty, and a divided society.
It also threatens the Afghan people with the sorrows of addiction. There never has been a case where production of opium and heroin did not lead to consumption and addiction in the producing country. In its 2005 figures, UNODC estimated that some 200,000 Afghans used opium or heroin. Recent anecdotal information indicates that the current number is much higher, including some 10,000 child users of the drugs.
Less than 10 percent of the heroin found in the US comes from Afghanistan. If that number were higher, we would be compelled to seek more forceful action against the producers and traffickers. Instead, we are working to shape an international consensus to fight the drug trade more effectively.
That international consensus is taking shape. We already agree on stronger measures against leading drug traffickers, against drug labs (the UNODC just reported that 90 percent of Afghanistan’s opium is converted into heroin inside the country), against shipment of drugs, against drug networks outside Afghanistan, and against financial institutions that launder drug money.
There is not yet a consensus regarding eradication. Last year’s results in Afghanistan were disappointing – about 20,000 hectares or roughly 10 percent of the total crop. As a result, we are exploring new techniques that we will coordinate with the Government of Afghanistan and the international community. In this regard, the greed and brutality of the drug traffickers is our best ally – it is they and the damage they cause to producer and consumer alike who are creating the international consensus to confront them more directly.
I want to thank the national officials, governors, police officials, and social and religious leaders who are fighting the tragedy of illicit drugs. We are with you and together we will win.
Thank you.