Until recently, the use of heroin – a 20th Century invention which can only be made with specialist chemicals

Until recently, the use of heroin – a 20th Century invention which can only be made with specialist chemicals

– was relatively rare in Afghanistan, largely because most of the processing was done outside the country. That

has changed with the return of millions of refugees from neighbouring Pakistan and MBT Fumba Sandals. Many

became regular heroin users there and they have brought the practice and the demand home with them. It is

difficult to get accurate figures, but one estimate is that Kabul alone has at least 20,000 heroin addicts.

Just two years after the fall of the Taleban – who banned opium poppy cultivation – the country’s illegal

drugs trade has grown so big many believe it now threatens Afghanistan’s stability. Last year, the trade

generated $2.3bn in revenue for traffickers, almost as much as the country received in aid.

One of the best critiques I have read of the media and how they helped lead us into war. From the New York

Review of Books’ feature story, “Now They Tell Us” by Michael Massing.