Narcotics are moved by markets, not the 'war on drugs'

Very little the UN has done in its unwinnable war on drugs has caused illegal drug production to fall - that's all down to market forces.

After a series of record harvests since 2001, the cultivation of crops used to make illegal drugs is falling at last, according to the annual UN World Drugs Report[pdf].

Opium poppy cultivation is down 19% in Afghanistan, which produces 93% of the world's opium, while coca leaf cultivation has fallen 18% in Columbia, which produces more than half of the world's cocaine. And despite falling production, opium prices have halved in Afghanistan to about $75 per kilo in the past five years, further reducing the incentive to grow it.

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