Is the war on terrorism fueling the opioid crisis?
government involvement in assisting in drug smuggling
The U.S. opioid epidemic is a continuous battle that has been plaguing the planet for centuries. Since the 1600's opium has been used as a tool of control, funding mechanisms for subversive political groups, a commodity that held economies together and used as a reason for war. In my research analysis, I hope to find and document the increase in opiate use by providing statistics on the increase in drug use throughout the War on Terror timeline and give my opinion of why it is getting worse. Through my research I hope to explain how US policies in Afghanistan, as well as Big Pharma, need for a raw opiate product, has contributed to the opioid crisis in what ways the war on terror has created more challenges for the world with increased opioid use, opium production and additional threats to public safety and security.
Different places across the world have had periodic bouts of a drug epidemics with heroin, Starting in the 1700's, opium was traded by the British that was grown in India and was exchanged for silver in the trade with Chinese merchants. This vigorous trading of opium, tea, and porcelain worked out for Chinese traders earning massive profits but the British had a limited supply of silver, which hindered their trading and strained other resources due to low supply of silver. Chinese officials were taking a cut of the India and Turkish grown opium into China and the consumption increased exponentially. The Emperor Daoguang noticing the millions of addicts from the increase in availability of opium. So in 1839 opium was banned in China and this immediately pissed off the merchant class and traders making huge profits. Angry British traders got the British government to promise compensation for the lost drugs, but the treasury couldn't afford it. War would resolve the debt. An attack occurred on a Chinese ship by Britain, Imperial Commissioner Lin Zexu sent a letter to Queen Victoria asking why it was an issue that opium is illegal in China when it is illegal in Britain? He never got an answer. In 1842 Emperor Qing sued Britain for peace after a decimation of the Chinese military and China essentially became a colony of Britain and ending the Opium War (Roblin, 2016). So there has literally been a war over the prohibition of opium in sovereign countries, and the British government involvement in this conflict shows a history of government supporting illegal drug trades that the Aristocracy of England were profiting from.
Prior to September 11th, 2001, Afghanistan had a reputation as a Rogue state. There had not been any consistent government in control throughout the country for years. In 1979 the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan and ousted the Afghan Royal Family, this chaos allowed for less control of provinces and made many areas lawless. The Soviet period (Opium production in Afghanistan. (2017) of Afghanistan lasted from 1979 to 1989 when they left defeated by the CIA supported Mujahedeen that were a thorn in the Soviets. The CIA supported and funded opium cultivation for the funds generated from drug dealing would go toward the material support of the Mujahedeen. With the sudden departure of The USSR, large areas were left with voids of authority. This period from 1989 to 1994 is known as their Warlord period (Opium production in Afghanistan. (2017). Various Tribes and Clan based factions started fighting against each other for power began to take areas and control them. Various Mujahedeen or "holy warriors" that fought the Soviets as proxies in Afghanistan, now were out of a job with the discontinuation of Western money and weapons, they resorted ever more too poppy cultivation to finance their military existence.
The next period of Afghanistan is the Taliban period from 1994 to 2001. The Taliban In 1994, made up of Pakistani clerics, took control of Afghanistan, they continued to allow the cultivation of opium and profited from their control that allowed a record opium crop of 4,500 metric tons in 1999. In July 2000, Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar, collaborating with the United Nations to eradicate heroin production in Afghanistan, declared that growing poppies was un-Islamic, resulting in a 90% drop in production and one of the world's most successful anti-drug campaigns. (Opium production in Afghanistan. (2017). Until the Taliban was ousted from power.
In 2001, the U.S. overthrew Taliban and put the drug money dependent Northern Alliance and Communists in power. With the United States took a side when installing the new Afghan government there was and still is many different factions vying for control of Afghanistan to control the opium production they so handsomely profited from before the Taliban reversal on opium production (Margolis, E. (2008). Admiral Mullen also ordered U.S. and NATO forces to begin targeting Afghanistan's opium and heroin dealers (Margolis, E. (2008) and this approach of non-opium production and this affected many poor Afghani's livelihoods. Attempts to get them to move to other crops like wheat and corn but the profit is not there the farmers were accustomed to. So when the US military was not reaching the heart and minds of the Afghan people, who were upset enough by the opium crackdown, joined with warlords, Al Qaeda or the Taliban to undermine the safety and security of the rest of the country.
So the United States decided on another strategy to attempt to control the opium production working with farmers. They decided to provide fertilizers and different forms of assistance so they could get obtain the hearts and minds of the farmers. In a report for Fox News, Geraldo Rivera spoke to Lt. Colonel Brian Christmas, lead commander in the Helmand province. He explains the importance of their mission to get the local population on their side and they are allowing them to grow opium by providing "security, resources and other crops to grow (video here youtu.be/AUATfLDiwVA). An interesting fact is the opium drug trade is that opiates represent about 10-15% of GDP. But when one takes into account macroeconomic spillovers, with drugs undermining much of the legal economic activity, drugs can easily constitute between a third and a half of the overall economy. I'm sure it seemed a legitimate option to the coalition government being that opium is so intertwined into the culture and economy as they expected to allow the farmers to harvest and win the hearts and minds and they would stop the smuggling out of the country but that clearly did not happen. According to the Brookings Institute, these interdiction efforts were selective interdiction focused on Taliban-linked traffickers, conducted by NATO's International Security Assistance Force for Afghanistan (ISAF) between 2008 and 2014, complicated the Taliban's logistics, but did not severely weaken the Taliban (Felbab-Brown, 2017).
Part of this shift in strategy to create stability was to create allies from enemies has also allowed shady players to be involved in the government. Now former warlords turned politicians, control much of the government and work together to resume their control of the opium drug trade. A glaring example of this "agreement" between the shady characters now in the Afghan government is a documented case of Ahmed Wali Karzai, the brother of former Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai, was implicated in heroin trafficking. According to a 2008 New York Times report, ("From One War to Another."2017). Having such a high ranking officials relative involved in drug trafficking definitely implicates Hamid Karzai in profiting from this arrangement.
Since this invasion in 2001 Afghan heroin now represents more than 90 per cent of the world's supply, ("From One War to Another."2017). The amount of land used for opium cultivation in Afghanistan has also more than quadrupled, from less than 50,000 hectares in early 2001 to more than 200,000 hectares in 2013, (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. "From One War to Another." 2017). this compromise to allow opium production has backfired and really should be called a pay off enough people are profiting from it. In 2013 strong revenues from a bumper poppy harvest and other illicit trade have further reduced the Taliban's incentives to reach a negotiated settlement and any peace (Laub, 2014). The strategy to win the hearts and minds worked, but in reality, the United States was used for protection and infrastructure to develop international smuggling routes. I have come to this conclusion due to the dramatic increase in all opium production metrics. It is almost as if people in the government are profiting from this policy, but this is just another example of the US government conflict of interest during war times and makes you think if the humanitarian ethos of many conflicts are even real since all countries we have to invade or destabilized in the 30 years the quality of life has actually decreased.
This is not the first time the hypocrisy of government actions in regards to a stance on drug prohibition and secret support for drug cultivation or sales, There have been instances where elements of US government has been involved in drug activity either directly or indirectly that have caused more harm to Americans and communities than they care to admit. Air America (Brown, K. (2017). a contractor used throughout Vietnam by the government and also a movie starring Mel Gibson, was implicated in the trafficking of opium during the Vietnam War and a CIA front company. This coincidently occurred around the same time as the heroin epidemic in the 70's in Harlem and surrounding boroughs in New York were in full swing. Another instance of government involvement in drug trafficking came out during the Iran Contra Affair. After the crack epidemic of the early 80's was raging the nation looked at the horror at the effect of this drug epidemic. Women selling themselves for crack, a generation of crack babies and the start of the fatherless household in the black family unit. Gary Webb an investigative reporter wrote his book, Dark Alliance, shed a spotlight on the CIA and the Reagan administrations unholy alliance with anti-communist guerrilla groups and their supporters who were involved in drug trafficking. He outlines how and why tons of cocaine shipped into San Francisco by supporters of the CIA-backed Nicaraguan Contras. These shipments made their way to South Central through different cutouts and to Freeway Ricky Ross. He is reportedly the spark of the crack epidemic as a street dealer and useful idiot making millions a week not knowing the money he generated was being used to fund a CIA under cover programs to overthrow the Nicaraguan government. Elements of our government sold weapons to Iran, then under an embargo, with proceeds going to also fund the Nicaraguan rebels, while also trying to release hostages held by Iran. This scandal implicated many high-level Reagan administration officials.
Another example of government involvement in assisting in drug smuggling was a recent scandal called "Operation Fast and Furious". This scheme started in 2003 was run by ATF and well known to Bush and Obama administration officials as well as the CIA. The scheme involved sending American weapons to Mexican drug cartels while simultaneously working with other agencies allowing narcotics to be shipped over the border, Citing an unnamed CIA source, a Washington Times article theorizes that U.S. officials were actively aiding organizations such as the Sinaloa cartel with guns and immunity in an effort to take over Los Zetas controlled drug routes (Newman, 2011) Then another government report on Fast and Furious scandal that is detailed by CIA and DEA insider Phil Jordan, he claims Obama administration was selling Los Zetas military- grade weaponry through a front company set up in Mexico. The administration stonewalling Congress, no charges were made, except AG Eric Holder was held in contempt by Congress over his nonparticipation in the investigation. This gun running program started around the same time the southern border of America and Mexico began to explode with cartel violence and since 2003 over 30,000 people have died via drug violence. I believe there is a correlation between the sales of military grade weapons to cartels and the border violence over drug territory, with the winner being in debt to the CIA and the loser left under authoritarianism.
Meanwhile, 15 years later the war on terror has expanded and America is the throws of opioid addiction. The opioid epidemic that has now garnered the attention deserves did not just suddenly happen, it has been a slow rolling wave that has quietly destroyed lives, cities and the very moral fabric of communities. But what were the signs of a pending crisis? According to the CDC, in 2014 it became apparent of the scope of the opioid crisis. Sales of prescription opioids in the U.S. nearly quadrupled from 1999 to 2014, but there has not been an overall change in a number of pain Americans report. During this time period, prescription opioid overdose deaths increased similarly at the rate of increase for prescribed opiates (CDC.gov, 2014). Per the CDC.gov from 1999 to 2014 opioid prescription overdoses have quadrupled, deaths from heroin tripled in the same time frame (CDC.gov, 2014). The rates of opioid prescriptions vary from the state. 2012 saw health care providers in the highest-prescribing state, Louisiana, wrote almost 3 times as many opioid prescriptions per person as those in the lowest prescribing state of Colorado. (Number of opioid prescriptions per 100 people, CDC.gov, 2014). These rates are alarming and make you wonder how 13 years could pass while this is happening and no one noticed it?
Who is affected by the opioid crisis, woman, children, and the elderly? Unfortunately, Opioid abuse is prevalent among all groups and subgroups in America, all races, and all ages. Prescription opioid use varies according to age, gender, and ethnicity, and the CDC numbers on this will shock you:
·Older adults (aged 40 years and older) are more likely to use prescription opioids than adults aged 20 - 39.
·Women are more likely to use prescription opioids than men.
·Non-Hispanic whites are more likely to use prescription opioids than Hispanics.
·There are no significant differences in prescription opioid use between non-Hispanic whites and non-Hispanic blacks.
The study also stated how people got these prescriptions, most people who abuse prescription opioids get them for free from a friend or relative. However, those who are at highest risk of overdosing, those that use prescription opioids not medically 200 or more days a year, get them in ways that are different from those who use them less frequently. These people get opioids using their own prescriptions (27 percent), from friends or relatives for free (26 percent), buying from friends or relatives (23 percent), or buying from a drug dealer (15 percent) (CDC.gov, 2014). But what are the State and Federal governments' response to the overprescribing of opioids? Is it Big Pharma that is the culprit?
States and the Federal government are going after Pharmaceutical companies that marketed the drugs and downplayed their addictive nature. (Semuels, 2017). States such as Ohio, Opioid abuse is rampant in states like Ohio, there were 793 million doses of opioids prescribed in the state, enough to supply every man, woman, and child, with 68 pills each. Roughly 20 percent of the state's population was prescribed an opioid in 2016. And Ohio leads the nation in overdose deaths. (Semuels, 2017). The Ohio lawsuit accuses the companies of spending millions on marketing campaigns that "trivialize the risks of opioids while overstating the benefits of using them for chronic pain." The companies, the lawsuit alleges, lobbied doctors to influence their opinions about the safety of opioids, (Samuels. 2017). An example A Los Angeles Times investigation into Purdue Pharma, for instance, found that the drug maker, which marketed OxyContin as relieving pain for 12 hours, knew that the drug wore off before that time period. Since the drug didn't last as long as promised, some patients suffered the withdrawal symptoms, which led them to become more addicted. (Purdue responded that OxyContin had been approved by the FDA as a 12-hour drug when contacted for comment). Purdue, which was allegedly the most aggressive marketer of opioids did admit admitted wrongdoing and entered into a multi-million-dollar settlement with the federal government in 2007. Three executives also pled guilty to criminal charges later in the investigation. (Semuels. 2017).
Unfortunately, it's not just the U.S. suffering under the weight of a heroin addiction that's hit epidemic proportions: Afghanistan, which has a long cultural tradition of smoking opium, is dealing not just with its status as a "narco state," but also with the health and social ills stemming from increased heroin use. Based on the examples I have provided the government, specifically, the CIA and military has enabled and helped heroin procurement and trafficking on many occasions. The Heroin trade has been an issue for at least two centuries across the world, affecting different races, genders, and families. It's pretty clear this epidemic was not a natural progression, but something that has happened over time in many different countries. It seems like the greed of these people and agencies and governments will continue in different decades as well. Also based on the statistics from the CDC, during the war on terror period, opium production is at all-time highs, the US military has control of most of the mountain areas that produce a majority of the opium (Thorn, 2017). This coincides with the tripling of opium related addictions, overdoses and opiates prescribed by doctors. I am sure that someone can debunk the correlation between the war on terror and opiate epidemics, but the fact that our government has a history of facilitating drug epidemics and enabling drug traffickers for the bigger geopolitical reason or just plain greed as in the Opium Wars. With all the money being made from opium trafficking and production government players at the highest levels involved why would they care about the end result? More addicts mean more arrests, which means more fines that fill the coffers of local government.
More money means more nefarious people involved using addicts and money to fund illicit activities or other agendas. But as usual in America, the solution that is proposed and implemented is usually flawed and never addresses the real issue, but the solutions are meant to have a façade of good intentions while allowing exemptions to the corporations or elitists that benefit from such tragedy. This is exactly what the war on terror has turned out to be.
References-
Roblin, Sebastien. "The Opium Wars: The Bloody Conflicts That Destroyed Imperial China." The National Interest, The Center for the National Interest.
Rudd, R., Seth, P., David, F., & Scholl, L. (2016). Increases in Drug and Opioid-Involved Overdose Deaths - United States
KHAN, ADNAN "From One War to Another.". (2017). Macleans International.
Felbab-Brown, V. (2017). High and low politics in Afghanistan: The terrorism-drugs-nexus and what can be done about it. Brookings.
Opium production in Afghanistan. (2017).
Brown, K. (2017). How The CIA-Operated A "Drug Smuggling Airline" For Heroin & The 9/11 Connection. Collective Evolution.
Margolis, E. (2008). How Deeply is the U.S. involved in the Afghan Drug Trade?HuffPost.