A battle to fight the growth and profit from narcotics in Afghanistan has been going in for years but new numbers show that battle is being lost.
This year’s overall harvest of opium will total more than 6,000 tons, some 49% higher than in 2012.
That means the nation produces more opium than the rest of the world combined.
The news comes from the UN Office on Drugs and Crime report.
There is concern that things will only get worse when the US troop withdrawal is complete next year.
Fears are that without help from other nations the Taliban, who profits the most from the drugs, will increase their push. There are worries that those inside the government may get greedy as well.
Making things even tougher is the fact that most of Afghanistan's poppy growth is centered in areas where the Taliban has a large and growing following.
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