Poppies - Beautiful landscape?

Several weeks past I saw a report from one of the television networks. It was about the state of political affairs in Afghanistan. The report covered the anomaly of power sharing within the country. The government that has been installed, since the rousting of the Taliban, is in fact an umbrella for the Provincial Tribal Leaders; commonly known as warlords. The current political situation along with the recent political history is curious and amusing. But, what caught my attention in the report was something quite different.

The camera caught on tape a view of a poppy field in full bloom. It was a short, small glimpse of Heroin on the hoof, so to speak. My first reaction was WOW! Since then some other things have dawned on me. Afghanistan is now at peace. At least as much of a Peace as it's known for a couple of generations. The Traditional Tribal leaders are again the dominant political class. And the strong centralized military grip dislodged. What this leads to is a "flowering" of the economy. There has always been Poppy production in that corner of the world. But, now, with no central authority to tax and harass, I have a hunch that production is way-up.

Now, I grant you that the camera view was not very much and a very narrow strip of land. Nor was it for very long. Also I would guess that it was only a short distance from Kabul. What does it mean? Well, farmers being farmers and the poppy being a cash crop, I would guess that those old boys have planted wind row to wind row. And what does that mean?

Probably, not much, to many of us. But I was just curious if anyone else thought that this might mean an increase in the production of Heroin. There by increasing supply, driving prices down, demand up and an increase in sales to both existing and potential customers. How's that for a lesson in economics? I'm pretty sure that no one in our government has an inkling of this situation. The boys at the Bureau are chasing terrorists. The DEA is busy busting pot smokers. And the Attorney General is working at restoring laws to the Pre-Kennedy era. Maybe some where in the State Department, someone has seen the figures. But, Bureaucracy does not give in easily to imagination or forethought.

In any case, I was just curious.