Drugs In Afghanistan

Map List of abbreviations Glossary of terms Acknowledgements Prologue 1. Introduction 2. Scorpion tales 3. A nation in anguish 4. Opium cultivators 5. Heroin producers and traffickers 6. Outlaws and warlords 7. Drug use in Afghanistan's history 8. Neighbours and refugees 9. A tale of two opiums 10. Hashish and hakims 11. Pharmaceuticals and chemical cocktails 12. Masters of the universe: other drugs and future dimensions 13. Scorpion tails Postscript Notes Index

David Macdonald is a sociologist who has specialised in drug control for over 20 years. Since 1999 he worked as the demand reduction advisor for the UN drugs control programme in Afghanistan with UNODC and also with the Ministry of Counter Narcotics in Kabul.

David Macdonald is a rare hybrid of investigative journalist and cross-cultural anthropologist with a nose for drugs and an intrepid curiosity about Afghanistan. He tells a story about the diversity of drug use in Afghanistan that no one has ever told before. In so doing, he reveals a side to that troubled land that few know, and even fewer understand. But he is also wise enough to appreciate that the phenomenon he describes is unique to Afghanistan only in its particulars, and that the horrors, delights and simple utilities of drugs are truly universal. -- Ethan Nadelmann, Executive Director, Drug Policy Alliance, New York This stunning book provides ... detailed insights into drug production, set in the context of the country's history, its economic, social and cultural position, and the turmoil it has been through in recent decades. ... This book is essential reading for all those who wish to be informed about the situation there. ... Afghanistan ... may move in a decade from misery to poverty. -- Professor Gerry Stimson, Executive Director, International Harm Reduction Association In recent years Afghanistan has been seen as a major drug producer, but what has not been seen is what makes it so and how much its own people are becoming the victims. Drugs has given Afghanistan a bad image internationally. ... In this book David Macdonald not only explores these undercurrents thoroughly but also tells an addictive tale that is difficult to resist. -- Shirazuddin Siddiqi, BBC