Tuesday, August 07, 2007
Canadians upset by Afghan heroin revival
Heroin, the way things are, is not a very good drug; it’s good at what it was intended to do, reduce severe pain, but along the way some bad karma got associated with it. Poppies, of course give us morphine and opium. Morphine is very good at dealing with pain; I’ve watched terminal cancer patients be able to function half-way sanely because they’re pumped full of morphine.
Opium may be a more mixed bag. I’ve tried it for “recreational” purposes and enjoyed it. I used to enjoy smoking it mixed with hashish. I think it was called Nepalese finger hash. I used to write and draw while smoking it. That was a long time ago—the ‘60s through the early ‘70s. I never tried it to reduce pain.
So poppies aren’t all that bad. Like a lot of things, they can be used for good or for bad. Heroin use is generally bad. It’s a narcotic for the miserable, a soporiphic for the lonely, and I don’t know what else. It’s extremely addictive, definitely part of it’s bad side, yes. America and it’s pals, of course, spend millions upon millions of dollars trying to suppress illegal opium production. At least with one hand we’re spending the money. With the other hand, well, it’s a bit different.
During the Taliban’s rule of Afghanistan, the illicit opium crop was stamped out. Afghanistan did not contribute to the world market for heroin. Those Muslim bigots at least managed to squash the trade. We managed to wrestle the Afghan government away from them, thus making it safe for the farmers to again grow poppies. And we tolerate it.
We tolerate it because the Euro-American hold on Afghanistan is tenuous and we need all the allies we can get. Sort of like the poppies that grew in the Golden Triangle and got flown around by Air America: we needed the allies. The payoffs were nice, too, and we never knew who all got them. And, then, there was the wonderful free market for drugs known as Iran-Contra...
AFGHAN HEROIN A DIRECT THREAT TO CANADIANS: MOUNTIES
The RCMP has warned at least two federal agencies that Afghan heroin is
increasingly making its way to Canada and poses a direct threat to the
public, despite millions of dollars from Ottawa to fund the war-torn
country's counter-narcotics efforts, newly released documents reveal.
FULL STORY:
http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2007/08/06/heroin-canada.html
Opium may be a more mixed bag. I’ve tried it for “recreational” purposes and enjoyed it. I used to enjoy smoking it mixed with hashish. I think it was called Nepalese finger hash. I used to write and draw while smoking it. That was a long time ago—the ‘60s through the early ‘70s. I never tried it to reduce pain.
So poppies aren’t all that bad. Like a lot of things, they can be used for good or for bad. Heroin use is generally bad. It’s a narcotic for the miserable, a soporiphic for the lonely, and I don’t know what else. It’s extremely addictive, definitely part of it’s bad side, yes. America and it’s pals, of course, spend millions upon millions of dollars trying to suppress illegal opium production. At least with one hand we’re spending the money. With the other hand, well, it’s a bit different.
During the Taliban’s rule of Afghanistan, the illicit opium crop was stamped out. Afghanistan did not contribute to the world market for heroin. Those Muslim bigots at least managed to squash the trade. We managed to wrestle the Afghan government away from them, thus making it safe for the farmers to again grow poppies. And we tolerate it.
We tolerate it because the Euro-American hold on Afghanistan is tenuous and we need all the allies we can get. Sort of like the poppies that grew in the Golden Triangle and got flown around by Air America: we needed the allies. The payoffs were nice, too, and we never knew who all got them. And, then, there was the wonderful free market for drugs known as Iran-Contra...
AFGHAN HEROIN A DIRECT THREAT TO CANADIANS: MOUNTIES
The RCMP has warned at least two federal agencies that Afghan heroin is
increasingly making its way to Canada and poses a direct threat to the
public, despite millions of dollars from Ottawa to fund the war-torn
country's counter-narcotics efforts, newly released documents reveal.
FULL STORY:
http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2007/08/06/heroin-canada.html
