Bumper Afghan poppy crop sparks heroin fears

IRELAND faces a flood of cheap heroin following two years of bumper crops of opium poppy in Afghanistan, according to a UN report.

The International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) said this could lead to a rise in heroin use and deaths associated with the drug.

"As a result of two years of bumper crops of opium poppy in Afghanistan, it is expected that heroin trafficking along the Balkan route and in Central Europe will increase and stocks, which were drastically depleted during the years of reduced opium poppy production, will be replenished," said the INCB annual report.

"This may lead to the reversal of the declining trends in the abuse of heroin and the number of heroin-related deaths."

Afghanistan is the primary supplier of heroin to Western Europe. The report said the cultivation and trafficking of opiates had expanded despite the war and political change in the central Asian state.

"Opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan continued on an even larger scale in 2003, after having reached a low level in 2001 due to the ban on such cultivation by the Taliban."

Production of opium increased to 3,600 tonnes in 2003, compared to 3,400 tonnes in 2002.

Cultivation had spread to new parts of the country and that cultivation was reported in 28 out of the country's 32 provinces.

Wholesale prices of heroin continued to fall since the start of last year. And the purity of the heroin appeared to have increased. Afghan heroin is trafficked to Europe through the Balkan route Iran, Turkey and the Balkans and increasingly through Central Asia and Russia.

"Links between drug-trafficking, organised crime and terrorism have allegedly become more prominent in recent years," says the report. It noted that the volume of cocaine seizures in Europe had constantly increased in recent years and that cocaine abuse had also risen.

The board said it was concerned at moves to relax cannabis control laws in Europe particularly in the Netherlands and Belgium.

The report also said that Morocco continued to be the main supplier of cannabis resin for Europe, with an apparent increase in the volume produced in recent years.

The report again raised concerns at the increasing supply of prescription drugs over the internet via "internet pharmacies".