The role of drugs in the economy of Afghanistan

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Opium growing doubles in Northern Alliance zones
By Rory McCarthy, Guardian, [26 October 2001]. Opium cultivation in north-eastern Afghanistan in territory controlled by the opposition Northern Alliance doubled last year. After the Taliban banned poppies, drug barons pushed their business into the mountainous province under opposition control.
Opium farmers rejoice at defeat of the Taliban
By Richard Lloyd Parry, Independent, 21 November 2001. A farmer might give more than two-thirds of his harvest to the owner of the land he farms. The Taliban reduced him to complete destitution because they outlawed opium production [but without changing property relations].
With Taliban gone, poppy crops return
By Paul Salopek, Chicago Tribune, 26 December 2001. To survive the drought, villagers rely on opium production. With the defeat of the Taliban, anti-drug laws have fallen by the wayside; poppy plantations under renewed cultivation.