Today in the New York Times an article appeared on one result of the war on drugs mentioned in my discussion of that issue: support for the Taliban as an essential component of the conflict in Afghanistan. In In Poppy War, Taliban Aim to Protect a Cash Crop, once again the point is made that our drug policy has serious detrimental effects on locations elsewhere in the world, as well as domestically.
"This year, the poppy fields that are so beautiful right now, carpeted with lithe red blossoms, are also sown with land mines — the product of the increased cooperation between poppy farmers and the militants they see as protectors of their economic interests, government officials say...
'No one wants to see his poppy field destroyed. A farmer is even ready to fight for his poppy field,' said a merchant in Musa Qala who asked not to be named because the subject was so delicate."