Some villagers, like 18-year-old Abdullah Jan, have to walk for hours before reaching Shaddle. The tiredness on his face explains it all - if he is stopped by government agents or bandits he would lose money that feeds his family for the entire year. "I left at four in the morning and got here after four hours. I have brought 10kg of opium from my fields to sell." After a hard bargain with Gul Mohammad Khan, the opium dealer, he is getting the equivalent of $1,400 - more than he can get for any other crop. He is one of hundreds of people who travel to Shaddle bazaar to sell and buy opium. The US has recently given the Afghan government more than $10bn in assistance, but most of the money will be spent on security rather than encouraging alternative sources of income. Afghanistan produces 92 percent of the world's opium, a thick paste from poppy used to make heroin, according to the latest U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime report. That is the equivalent of 3,500 tonnes leaving the country each year. Helmand produces most of the poppy. About two thirds of the opium is turned into heroin before it leaves Afghanistan and goes on to feed some 15 million addicts, mainly in Russia, Iran and Europe. UN findings say an opium market worth $65bn (£39bn) funds global terrorism, caters to 15 million addicts, and kills 100,000 people every year. Since 2005, the Taliban have made up to $160 million (0.2% market) a year from taxing cultivation and trade of the crop, according to foreign diplomats. The UN says corruption, lawlessness and uncontrolled borders result in only 2% of Afghan opiates being seized locally. The UN says more Russians die annually from Afghan drugs than Soviet soldiers were killed during its Afghan conflict. The UN estimates that Afghan land dedicated to opium poppy cultivation — some 45,000 to 65,000 hectares — is up to eight and a half times larger than the amount for 2001. Antonio Maria Costa, head of the UNODC, said Afghanistan's opium production could create a "perfect storm" in the region. "The Afghanistan/Pakistan border region has turned into the world's largest free-trade zone in anything and everything that is illicit - drugs of course, but also weapons, bomb-making equipment, chemical precursors, drug money, even people and migrants," he said. Iran intercepts about 20% of the opium entering its territory and Pakistan 17% - but Russia and some European countries are seizing less than 5%. One gram of heroin worth $3 in Kabul is worth up to $100 on the streets of London, Milan or Moscow, it is estimated. 18 Nov 2001 Britain and US plan to stop heroin trade by buying Afghan opium crop (Haha) By Francis Elliott, Deputy Political Editor Kemal Kurspahic, a spokesman for the Vienna-based UN Office of Drug Control and Crime Prevention (UNDCCP), said: "The sowing season is October and early November. Many farmers are now free of Taliban control and our staff in Pakistan have received reports that some are planting. We will only know in February how many poppy fields there are when they begin to grow." Although the United States and Britain had accused the Taliban of relaxing its ban on poppy farming, the UN says farmers are acting out of desperation and the absence of anyone to enforce the proscription of the trade. It also believes that the bulk of the drug is being produced in alliance strongholds. And look at how it has effected the neighbours..... Russia now 'top heroin consumer' Russia says it has become the world's biggest consumer of heroin. Mr Ivanov, a former KGB officer and senior Kremlin official, said the flood of the drug from Afghanistan posed a threat to Russia's national security. "In recent years Russia has not just become massively hooked on Afghan opiates, it has also become the world's absolute leader in the opiate trade and the number one heroin consumer," he said in a report made available to reporters." The Russian health ministry says Russia has up to 2.5 million drug addicts out of a population of some 140 million, most of them aged between 18 and 39. And over in the UK...... Why do we so willfully cover up the failure of the war on drugs? Angus Macqueen 1 August 2010 The vulnerable are left unprotected by our attitudes to substance abuse. Asuccess rate of 1%. In what area of public life would we accept that? Last year, Professor Neil McKeganey of the University of Glasgow, one of the most respected academics in Britain, established that the authorities seize just 1% of the heroin that enters Scotland in any one year. He sees no reason to think this would be any different for the nation as a whole. If heroin gets in, we can only suppose cocaine and other drugs are smuggled in equally successfully. Gordon Meldrum, of the Scottish branch of the Serious Organised Crime Agency, tasked with coordinating our battle against drugs smuggling, shrugs: "1% or 10% – it is not good enough." He claims that a breakthrough in targeting top smugglers is around the corner, but when asked if there is any chance of achieving the 60-70% target the United Nations estimates would be required to change fundamentally the market in illegal drugs, he simply shakes his head.