Opium poppy heads are produced in Badakhshan province. For the harvest, farmers cut heads, and then wait until the viscous gluten is dry, to scrape it into the containers. Most of the opium is squeezed into bars and shipped to processing plants where it is turned into heroin, which is then smuggled and exported from Afghanistan. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime the Afghanistan Opium kills up to 100 thousand people a year, more than any other drug.
In the village of Sar Ab in the north-eastern Afghanistan, many people – adults, children and old people – are addicted to opium. Poverty and the remote location means that modern medical facilities are largely out of reach, while the opium, which contains morphine, is available pain remedy to everyone.
Addiction to opium reached epidemic proportions in the Sar Abe, province of Badakhshan. “My whole family is addicted to opium,” – said Juma Gul (right), smoking opium with his friend, while his daughter sat beside him. Opium is frequently used as a medical facility in remote areas where no medical care is available.
Although poppy cultivation is illegal, it is more profitable for Afghan farmers, than the cultivation of most other crops. During harvest, each poppy head’s incised to release opium purplish color. Once it dries, the resin is scraped with an iron tool, and packaged in blocks of raw opium.
Afghan police destroying poppy fields with sticks in the province of Badakhshan. Despite such efforts, Afghanistan is a supplier of opium, number 1 in the world.
Mother (in red scarf) and her children were crying, while Afghan police destroyed her poppy field during a raid in north-eastern Afghanistan. The husband of the woman was killed by the rebels and the opium is her sole source of income.
