On buying opium in Afghanistan

If you saw last night's CNN special on drugs in Afghanistan and did not lie awake trying to devise a way to solve the problem , then you have your head in the sand and a deathwish to boot! It became clear to me, at least, that the war on terror will be lost-will certainly be lost- if we do not solve this problem. It also seems clear that paying farmers for their crop is the only viable option. We promised them a viable alternative crop and have yet to come up with one that will sustain them and their families.

I believe that given the long term cost of heroin impacting our world society, virtually any payment to the farmers will be cheap at the price. Am I wrong? Has anyone measured that total cost in dollars?

There is an ugly truth; terror needs funding-opium provides that funding. Lots and lots of it.

A few days ago, I read about a Canadian proposal to buy the crop, set up a factory, and get a licensed outlet to our medical world. Then I read no more. There must be more!

Europe and the US are not big on long term strategy. Here is where that shows! Everyone knew this would be a problem, and aside from the burning of some fields(which probably created more terrorists) no global effort has been made to solve it.

There will be those who will say that Europe and the US must stop the users. True, but pie in the sky. The cost of an effective program will be huge, inevitably, but it must be a priority. An effective program here will save us money in the long term and possibly save our lives and those of our children.