Afghan narcotics could reduce world pharmaceuticals shortage

The narcotics produced in Afghanistan could help reduce the world shortage of pharmaceuticals, according to Gulalai Momand, deputy country manager of the Senlis Council, a drug policy advisory forum. Addressing a symposium, Momand said that 80 percent of all medicines are made from morphine, and that Afghanistan could make up the shortfall in world supply. Abdul Khalil Tizrai, an official at the Afghan counter-narcotics ministry, said article seven of the Afghan constitution prohibits opium poppy cultivation. However, he noted that producing opium for use in medicine is common in India, Spain, Turkey and Australia. According to surveys conducted by several agencies, some 700,000 farmers are engaged in poppy cultivation across Afghanistan.