The Price of Heroin
rawstory.com/rs/2010/0513/mysterious-disease-grips-afghan-poppy-crops-farmers-blame/ As far as I'm concerned, when I read this article, it only increases my suspicion that the US military is involved in the heroin trade. First, they cornered the dope market when they entered Afghanistan and turned it into the world's #1 producer of heroin, supplying about 90% of the world's smack. They did this by tricking the farmers into growing more poppies, offering them money for not growing this crop and then defaulting on the deal, which pushed them to grow them as a cash crop. Prior to the US's arrival, it is worth noting, the Taliban had virtually elimitated opium poppy cultuvation. Next, production got so high that drug lords hoarded the heroin to create an artificial shortage to raise the price, which had fallen by about 40% since the early 1990's. And finally, the US sprays crops, damaging some 50% of them and reducing production by about 25%. In summary, create a monopoly by cornering the market and then drive up the price by creating a shortage. If the US were indeed spraying at a time when there was a desire to raise the price, it would seem that they stood to gain something from lowering the crop yields. With their history of involvement in heroin smuggling going back as far as the Vietnam war, it wouldn't surprise me that this recent operation was one done intentionally for purposes of their own profit.
