keithdalankford

Los Angeles

I went to get some groceries tonight, and as I was exiting the checkout, the checker asked if I needed a bag. For lack of a pouch, I said yes I do. The problem would be that the people of California have passed a law supposedly that now charges $.10 cents for every grocery bag, and the money surprisingly enough goes to the government! Well this is nice for it obviously will be spent to help save our environment and maybe even clean up the beaches here one day.

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keithdalankford

Heroin use in America: The Afghanistan War

It seems that the dramatic rise in the use of heroin, and heroin linked overdoses and deaths in the United States can be closely tied to the invasion of Afghanistan.

The opium supply in the world has increased 5-fold from 1980 to 2010. Afghanistan is reported to account for up to 90% of opioum production in at least the past 10-15 years. Afghanistan accounts for close to 85% 0f the estimated global supply of both heroin and morphine. As you can see from the charts below, in 2001 when the Taliban ruled Afghanistan the opium production in that country had become almost nonexistent.

As America invaded Afghanistan the rise in opium and morphine is seen immediately, which might lead us to ask how exactly this came to be. When America did invade Afghanistan we immediately imposed a “no fly zone” over the entire country. The only flights in and out of the country were American forces or entities that America allowed to fly freely in and out of the Country.

It is known to many that our very own government has played a large role in drug trafficking in the past. Through various branches of our very own government, namely the CIA drugs are often brought into and distributed to the people of our nation.

The graph below is taken from the 2014 UN Opium Survey: