A new report by the Kabul-based research organization Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit (AREU) warns significant increase in poppy cultivation in Afghanistan after the 2014 withdrawal of International Security Assistance Forces.

In a survey study report conducted in four provinces, AREU says the Government and international community should support agriculture alternative programs for farmers.

A recent UN report had also predicted rise of cultivation in the current year. According to the 2013 Assessment Report, the rise in production has been due to high prices for last few years and harvest has now spread to areas which were previously poppy-free. It further says poppy cultivation is not only expected to expand in areas where it already existed in 2012 but also in new areas or in areas where poppy cultivation was stopped. Villages with a low level of security and those which had not received agricultural assistance in the previous year were significantly more likely to grow poppy in 2013.

The increase has been significant in Southern provinces. More than a third of Afghanistan's total opium production now takes place in Helmand and Kandahar.

The percentage of increase shows an alarming situation, particularly at a time when the country is in transition. More help is needed to provide alternatives to farmers, in law enforcement support and in cooperation from other countries in the region.

The Government and international forces should enforce the poppy eradication campaign. Aside from the fact that a huge part of the financial support to insurgents come from transport and smuggling of opium, it’s also exporting deaths to millions of people around the world, and the number of drug addicts increasing in Afghanistan.

The Counter-Narcotics law is yet to go in effect. It was approved in 2009, but under the pretext of the so-called alternative programs, the Government has not implemented the law. Once this law goes into effect, there will be legal action against farmers who cultivate poppy crop. The punishment is not strict, but this law must be implemented and practiced strongly.

On the other hand, the increasing number of drug addicts is becoming an epidemic. It’s time there should be tougher control on the use of drugs and its sale. Harsher legislations need to be introduced. The Government needs to increase focus and international donors support projects for rehabilitation of drug addicts across the country. There has been less attention on this rampant deadly issue which is now becoming a national tragedy with the number crossing hundreds of thousands.