EP in favour of medicinal opium

The European Parliament has voted in favour of opium being grown in Afghanistan for medical purposes. At the end of October, MEPs approved a recommendation calling for the European Council to consider suitable pilot projects. The origins of the proposal date from 2005, when the Paris-based Senlis Council floated the idea that opium should be cultivated under international supervision in Afghanistan for the production of painkilling drugs. Last summer, the Council presented a plan showing how the idea could be realised in practice. The Afghan government and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) have both spoken out repeatedly in the past against legalising opium-growing. They believe such a step would encourage even more farmers to cultivate narcotics. What is more, they see no way to stop farmers growing clandestine crops for the black market. “The Senlis Council and the European Parliament are supporting insecurity in Afghanistan,” an Afghan cabinet member told the BBC. (ell)