NEW UN DRUG REPORT (VOA. FEB 24)

DATE=2/24/98 TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT NUMBER=2-227204 TITLE=AFGHAN DRUGS (L) BYLINE=SARAH HORNER DATELINE=ISLAMABAD CONTENT= VOICED AT:

INTRO: THE U-N INTERNATIONAL NARCOTICS CONTROL BOARD HAS RELEASED ITS ANNUAL REPORT, CALLING FOR IMMEDIATE STEPS TO COUNTER A LARGE INCREASE IN DRUG PRODUCTION IN AFGHANISTAN. SARAH HORNER HAS DETAILS FROM ISLAMABAD.

TEXT: THE U-N REPORT DOCUMENTS A 25-PERCENT INCREASE IN THE AMOUNT OF OPIUM PRODUCED IN AFGHANISTAN IN 1997.

THIS IS TRANSLATING INTO A GREATER FLOW OF HEROIN INTO EUROPE THROUGH TRAFFICKING ROUTES IN CENTRAL ASIA. THE REPORT SAYS THERE HAS ALSO BEEN A MARKED INCREASE IN HEROIN ABUSE IN AFGHANISTAN'S NEIGHBOR, PAKISTAN.

THE REPORT SAYS THE LARGE INCREASE IN OPIUM PRODUCTION IS DUE TO AFGHANISTAN'S CIVIL WAR, WHICH HAS CAUSED POLITICAL TURMOIL AND A LACK OF ADMINISTRATIVE STRUCTURES.

THE IMPLEMENTING ARM OF THE NARCOTICS CONTROL BOARD, THE U-N DRUG CONTROL PROGRAM, HAS RECENTLY INCREASED ITS EFFORTS. REGIONAL DIRECTOR GARY LEWIS -- WHO IS BASED IN THE PAKISTANI CAPITAL, ISLAMABAD, TOLD V-O-A THE PROGRAM IS TRYING TO BREAK THE CYCLE OF ADDICTION.

// LEWIS ACT //

FIRSTLY THE ADDICTION IN PAKISTAN -- WHICH IS QUITE SEVERE -- HAS BEEN EXTREMELY SUPPLY DRIVEN FROM THE EARLY 1980'S ON. THIS WAS DONE WITH THE NORMAL ECONOMIC APPROACH OF A LOSS LEADER, YOU GIVE IT FREE FIRST AND THEN YOU CHARGE PEOPLE ONCE THEY BECOME HOOKED. THE SOLUTION? PREVENTION. PREVENTATIVE MESSAGES FROM THE GOVERNMENTS OF THE WEST AND PAKISTAN, AND ACTION AT THE COMMUNITY AND VILLAGE LEVEL TO RAISE AWARENESS OF THE DANGERS POSED BY THIS.

// END ACT //

MR. LEWIS SAYS U-N DRUG CONTROL PROGRAM ALSO WANTS LOCAL RELIGIOUS LEADERS -- VILLAGE MULLAHS -- TO TELL PEOPLE ATTENDING MOSQUES THEY SHOULD NOT TAKE HEROIN.

MR LEWIS EXPLAINED WHY DRUG PRODUCTION IS SO POPULAR IN AFGHANISTAN AND PAKISTAN.

// LEWIS ACT //

STILL IN PARTS OF PAKISTAN, AND IN LARGE PARTS OF AFGHANISTAN, THE PRODUCTION OF ILLICIT NARCOTIC CROPS REPRESENTS CURRENTLY THE ONLY VIABLE SOURCE OF INCOME FOR PEOPLE. TWENTY YEARS AGO, THESE INDIVIDUALS WERE NOT PRODUCING NARCOTIC CROPS. BUT THE INTERVENTION BY OUTSIDE FORCES AND THE ENSUING CIVIL WAR HAVE FORCED PEOPLE TO DEPEND ON SOMETHING THAT DOES NOT REQUIRE A LOT OF WATER, CAN EASILY BE MARKETED, AND REPRESENTS A STORE OF VALUE, AND FOR THAT REASON IS AN EXTREMELY ATTRACTIVE ECONOMIC OPTION FOR FARMERS.

// END ACT //

THIS ECONOMIC REASON HAS CONSISTENTLY UNDERMINED EFFORTS TO ERADICATE POPPY PRODUCTION IN AFGHANISTAN. BUT, MR LEWIS SAYS THE U-N PROGRAM HAS SIGNED A NEW AGREEMENT WITH THE TALEBAN -- AN ISLAMIC MOVEMENT WHICH CONTROLS TWO-THIRDS OF AFGHANISTAN, INCLUDING THE CAPITAL, KABUL.

// LEWIS ACT //

WHAT WE CAN DO REALISTICALLY IS TO WORK WITH THE TALEBAN AUTHORITIES TO PROVIDE ALTERNATIVES FOR THESE FARMERS WHICH WILL ENABLE THE TALEBAN TO ENFORCE THE BAN WHICH THEY HAVE DECLARED AT OUR BEHEST IN OCTOBER AND SEPTEMBER 1997. WE HAVE ALREADY STARTED TO ENGAGE AND WORK WITH THE TALEBAN AUTHORITIES AND PEOPLE AT THE COMMUNITY AND DISTRICT LEVEL IN AFGHANISTAN TO REDUCE POPPY. OUR TARGET? IT MAY BE IDEALISTIC BUT IT IS A TARGET AND WE SHOULD BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE TO IT IN 10-YEARS. OUR TARGET IS TO WORK WITH THE AUTHORITIES IN THAT COUNTRY AND TO REDUCE AND ELIMINATE THIS ILLICIT NARCOTIC CROP WITHIN 10-YEARS.

// END ACT //

THE TALEBAN CONTROL 96-PERCENT OF AFGHANISTAN'S TOTAL OPIUM PRODUCTION -- WHICH IS GROWN IN THE SOUTHWEST AND THE EAST OF THE COUNTRY. SOME OF THESE AREAS HAVE BEEN UNDER TALEBAN CONTROL FOR THREE-AND-ONE-HALF YEARS, DURING WHICH TIME OPIUM PRODUCTION HAS INCREASED.

LATEST U-N REPORT NOTES FOR THE PAST TWO-YEARS THERE HAS BEEN NO SYSTEMATIC EFFORT BY TALEBAN AUTHORITIES TO ERADICATE OR REDUCE POPPY CULTIVATION IN AFGHANISTAN. IN ONE AREA, HELMAND, OPIUM PRODUCTION HAS INCREASED BY 34-PERCENT.

THE U-N REPORT ALSO NOTES NEW AREAS OF CULTIVATION IN 1997. MOST OF THESE NEW GROWTH AREAS ARE CONTROLLED BY THE TALEBAN. (SIGNED)