Ministry of Counter-narcotics, based on its new report, says that there has been an increase in poppy cultivation in Afghanistan in the current year. In joint press conference with UNODC, a high official of the ministry said Saturday that around 74% of poppy is cultivated in volatile southern province. "Poppy cultivation has increased to some extent, but this is not a pure failure, we have had lots of achievements in other areas and in the future, our focus will be more on the provinces where cultivation is highest," said Haroon Rashid Shirzad, the Deputy Minister of Counter-narcotics.

Afghanistan is labeled as a country where 90% of worldwide opium is produced. Therefore, ministry’s reports should not be surprising. If in some provinces the opium is not grown, it does not mean it can lead to a general decrease. Indeed, southern provinces have turned into a haven for poppy cultivation, drug production and its smugglers. Into such provinces, there is a huge inflow of cash that benefits the mafia groups, insurgents and crooked government authorities who are involved in drug trafficking. It seems as if the government is intentionally keeping a blind eye over the drug production and trafficking in the above mentioned provinces as no significant or serious measure has been taken in this regard. 

Over the past decade, anti-narcotics programs have been one of the priorities of the international community and much aid has been given to the Afghan government to support it fight opium production. Nonetheless, the end result is negligible and Afghanistan continues to be at the top when it comes to drugs production. Now, as the international allies are focusing on withdrawing most of their troops from Afghanistan, there is fear that foreign support to Afghanistan for countering narcotics will diminish. This will result in further increase in poppy production.

The condition and performance of Ministry of Counter-narcotics has been very pathetic as it is helpless against the drug traffickers who are closely linked to high ranking government officials. The ministry needs to be more independent in its actions against drug mafias.

In the coming years, the world will unfortunately witness greater flow of opium from Afghanistan. This is going to put lives of more people at stake all over the world, especially in Afghanistan where the number of drug addicts is said to be more than 1.3 million. Drugs are killing more people than terrorism does. The past ten years serves as a mirror of coming ten years. No success against narcotics is expected.