4. It is only the point in the agricultural season in which the ban has been announced that is different. Last time the ban was announced 5 months prior to planting, this time 5 months after! It seems very unlikely this will be enforced this season given harvest has already begun

5. It is after all far harder to press farmers & destroy their crop when they have already invested considerable time & resources & are bringing the crop in. It’s not just opium they smell, it’s cash & what it buys after a cold winter of rising food prices & economic crisis

6. Announcing a ban at this stage offers no time for a replacement & with a potential dry spring/summer ahead & falling disposable income there are few viable options even for those in better irrigated areas-let alone in former desert land where little is grown in the summer.

7. As such, this ban is more akin to that on the ephedra crop that the Taliban announced in December 2021: a definite case of closing the stable door after the horse had bolted given that the harvest was already in. The result was the pump priming of the meth industry.

8. Given how unlikely it is this ban will be enforced at this point in the 21/22 season we should see this announcement as an attempt to recast the political debate: to distract from the things the Taliban government doesnt want to talk about - girls education & human rights.

9. An effort to put pressure on the international community to respond to what will be portrayed as the Talibans act of “altruism”-banning drugs used by others: a favour to the world. To press the donors for recognition, provide development assistance & lessen economic sanctions.

10. To react in such a way would be unwise. There may be reasons to provide assistance & ease sanctions but it would be foolish to revisit past mistakes & trade development assistance for drug reductions - it’s been done so many times before in Afghanistan & never ends well.

11. Being repeatedly placed “over a barrel” is neither comfortable nor helpful when it comes to addressing the development needs of Afghanistan’s farmers & adopting a strategy that threatens to further impoverish the population unless assistance is given is particularly cynical.

12. Nor can so called “alternative development” projects deliver effective change for farmers in the midst of wider & deeper economic crisis. Throwing money at “AD” would simply be good money after bad. A sop at best, worse a reward for political expediency

13. I have an idea. Let’s get off the hamsters wheel and start learning from the past not simply documenting it then repeating it again & again & again. Alas it would require some reading. Shame. sigar.mil/pdf/lessonslea…

Woman, 23, dies after eating 'Cannabis sweets' ordered to London home mol.im/a/10685115 Mail Online

🇪🇸 Guardia Civil & Policía Nacional operation dismantles a drug trafficking network shipping hundreds of millions of euros worth of cocaine & hashish into Europe. 🚔 61 people, including corrupt police & customs officers, were arrested. More ➡️ europol.europa.eu/media-press/ne…

Having taken a solicitor to court for nonpayment of fees, judgement in full found against them, CCJ obtained. High Court Sheriffs will now attend offices / home and either obatin outstanding monies or remove items to be sold at auction. Totally unnecessary...oh well..

It'll be interesting to see if this enters the more common recreational drug arenas.

I wrote an incredibly personal article about how mental health services – instead of criminalisation – helped me overcome a prescription drug dependence, while pregnant. 💚 metro.co.uk/2023/05/21/can…

Dominican Republic Breaks Seizure Record Amid Renewed Caribbean Trafficking insightcrime.org/news/dominican…

Colombia-led operation seizes world record 225 tonnes of cocaine, and uncovers new Australia trafficking route theguardian.com/world/2024/nov…

Book contract signed, Organised Crime, Cannabis Cultivation, Modern Slavery. Lots to do.