UN warns of surge in synthetic opioid overdoses as heroin production crashes

Afghanistan's ruling Taliban have announced a ban on poppy production, even as farmers across many parts of the country began harvesting the bright red flower that produces the lucrative opium which is used to make heroin. Picture: AP Photo/Abdul Khaliq

The Taliban-ordered crash in opium production in Afghanistan, long the world's dominant supplier, could drive up overdose deaths as heroin users switch to synthetic opioids already proving deadly in Europe, a UN report said on Wednesday.

The cultivation of opium, from which heroin is made, fell by 95% in Afghanistan last year after the Taliban banned the production of narcotics in 2022.