September 27, 2002	Friday	Rajab 19, 1423

LONDON, Sept 26: The United Nations has warned that a flood of heroin would hit Europe after a huge increase in the opium production in Afghanistan.

A survey by the UN estimates farmers in Afghanistan would grow 2,700 tons of opium this year compared with 185 tons in 2001, a 1,400 per cent jump. The Taliban authorities had banned poppy cultivation in Afghanistan and during the year 2000 and 2001 only limited number of farmers were able to grow poppy. But after the overthrow of the Taliban government the production of the lucrative crop has resumed due to lack of good governance in rural parts.

Afghanistan provides source for the world’s 75 per cent heroin and 90 per cent of Britain’s supply. Britain is suffering from a very serious heroin problem, and the number of its addicts is growing day by day.

In April, the British Foreign Office said the amount of heroin on the streets would be cut by a scheme offering Afghan farmers $1,250 for each hectare of opium destroyed. Brian Taylor, a UN official, said the Afghan authorities lacked the equipment and training to tackle the problem.