FILE - In this July 16, 2009 file photo, police officers from the district of Argu, swing away with long sticks to eradicate a patch of illegally grown poppies in the Badakhshan province of Afghanistan. Two years ago, opium _ the raw ingredient used to make heroine _ was grown on nearly half a million acres in Afghanistan, the largest illegal narcotics crop ever produced by a modern nation. A government crackdown on poppy cultivation has spelled economic disaster for many communities throughout the country. AP Photo logo AP Photo 5 months ago

FILE - In this July 16, 2009 file photo, police officers from the district of Argu, swing away with long sticks to eradicate a patch of illegally grown poppies in the Badakhshan province of Afghanistan. Two years ago, opium _ the raw ingredient used to make heroine _ was grown on nearly half a million acres in Afghanistan, the largest illegal narcotics crop ever produced by a modern nation. A government crackdown on poppy cultivation has spelled economic disaster for many communities throughout the country.

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  1. KABUL, AFGHANISTAN - FEBRUARY 2: A wall in the destroyed former Russian Cultural Center, a notorious drug den, in Kabul on February 02, 2010 in Kabul, Afghanistan. As poppy production in Afghanistan is still high, opium and heroin are cheap and easily available. As a result, drug addiction is quickly becoming a growing problem in Afghanistan with a United Nations survey recently showing over 900,000 people in Afghanistan are considered drug addicts. Despite years of foreign involvement and the money being committed to Afghanistan from both private and governmental donors, Afghanistan is still plagued by chronic unemployment and neglected public services. Unemployment in the country of some 25 million people is still 40 per cent with more than half the population lives below the poverty line. A man's life expectancy in Afghanistan is 44.04 years, while a woman's is 44.39 years.
  2. KABUL, AFGHANISTAN - FEBRUARY 2: A wall in the destroyed former Russian Cultural Center, a notorious drug den, in Kabul on February 02, 2010 in Kabul, Afghanistan. As poppy production in Afghanistan is still high, opium and heroin are cheap and easily available. As a result, drug addiction is quickly becoming a growing problem in Afghanistan with a United Nations survey recently showing over 900,000 people in Afghanistan are considered drug addicts. Despite years of foreign involvement and the money being committed to Afghanistan from both private and governmental donors, Afghanistan is still plagued by chronic unemployment and neglected public services. Unemployment in the country of some 25 million people is still 40 per cent with more than half the population lives below the poverty line. A man's life expectancy in Afghanistan is 44.04 years, while a woman's is 44.39 years.
  3. KABUL, AFGHANISTAN - FEBRUARY 2: Children play soccer outside of the destroyed former Russian Cultural Center, a notorious drug den, in Kabul on February 02, 2010 in Kabul, Afghanistan. As poppy production in Afghanistan is still high, opium and heroin are cheap and easily available. As a result, drug addiction is quickly becoming a growing problem in Afghanistan with a United Nations survey recently showing over 900,000 people in Afghanistan are considered drug addicts. Despite years of foreign involvement and the money being committed to Afghanistan from both private and governmental donors, Afghanistan is still plagued by chronic unemployment and neglected public services. Unemployment in the country of some 25 million people is still 40 per cent with more than half the population lives below the poverty line. A man's life expectancy in Afghanistan is 44.04 years, while a woman's is 44.39 years.
  4. KABUL, AFGHANISTAN - FEBRUARY 2: A dog lays down in trash in the destroyed former Russian Cultural Center, a notorious drug den, in Kabul on February 02, 2010 in Kabul, Afghanistan. As poppy production in Afghanistan is still high, opium and heroin are cheap and easily available. As a result, drug addiction is quickly becoming a growing problem in Afghanistan with a United Nations survey recently showing over 900,000 people in Afghanistan are considered drug addicts. Despite years of foreign involvement and the money being committed to Afghanistan from both private and governmental donors, Afghanistan is still plagued by chronic unemployment and neglected public services. Unemployment in the country of some 25 million people is still 40 per cent with more than half the population lives below the poverty line. A man's life expectancy in Afghanistan is 44.04 years, while a woman's is 44.39 years.
  5. KABUL, AFGHANISTAN - FEBRUARY 2: A room in the destroyed former Russian Cultural Center, a notorious drug den, in Kabul on February 02, 2010 in Kabul, Afghanistan. As poppy production in Afghanistan is still high, opium and heroin are cheap and easily available. As a result, drug addiction is quickly becoming a growing problem in Afghanistan with a United Nations survey recently showing over 900,000 people in Afghanistan are considered drug addicts. Despite years of foreign involvement and the money being committed to Afghanistan from both private and governmental donors, Afghanistan is still plagued by chronic unemployment and neglected public services. Unemployment in the country of some 25 million people is still 40 per cent with more than half the population lives below the poverty line. A man's life expectancy in Afghanistan is 44.04 years, while a woman's is 44.39 years.
  6. KABUL, AFGHANISTAN - FEBRUARY 02: Matin smokes heroin in the destroyed former Russian Cultural Center, a notorious drug den on February 02, 2010 in Kabul, Afghanistan. As poppy production in Afghanistan is still high, opium and heroin are cheap and easily available. As a result, drug addiction is quickly becoming a growing problem in Afghanistan with a United Nations survey recently showing over 900,000 people in Afghanistan are considered drug addicts. Despite years of foreign involvement and the money being committed to Afghanistan from both private and governmental donors, Afghanistan is still plagued by chronic unemployment and neglected public services. Unemployment in the country of some 25 million people is still 40 per cent with more than half the population lives below the poverty line. A man's life expectancy in Afghanistan is 44.04 years, while a woman's is 44.39 years.
  7. KABUL, AFGHANISTAN - FEBRUARY 02: Wafa smokes heroin in the destroyed former Russian Cultural Center, a notorious drug den, on February 02, 2010 in Kabul, Afghanistan. As poppy production in Afghanistan is still high, opium and heroin are cheap and easily available. As a result, drug addiction is quickly becoming a growing problem in Afghanistan with a United Nations survey recently showing over 900,000 people in Afghanistan are considered drug addicts. Despite years of foreign involvement and the money being committed to Afghanistan from both private and governmental donors, Afghanistan is still plagued by chronic unemployment and neglected public services. Unemployment in the country of some 25 million people is still 40 per cent with more than half the population lives below the poverty line. A man's life expectancy in Afghanistan is 44.04 years, while a woman's is 44.39 years.
  8. KABUL, AFGHANISTAN - FEBRUARY 02: A man smokes heroin in the destroyed former Russian Cultural Center, a notorious drug den on February 02, 2010 in Kabul, Afghanistan. As poppy production in Afghanistan is still high, opium and heroin are cheap and easily available. As a result, drug addiction is quickly becoming a growing problem in Afghanistan with a United Nations survey recently showing over 900,000 people in Afghanistan are considered drug addicts. Despite years of foreign involvement and the money being committed to Afghanistan from both private and governmental donors, Afghanistan is still plagued by chronic unemployment and neglected public services. Unemployment in the country of some 25 million people is still 40 per cent with more than half the population lives below the poverty line. A man's life expectancy in Afghanistan is 44.04 years, while a woman's is 44.39 years.
  9. KABUL, AFGHANISTAN - FEBRUARY 02: Wafa prepares to smoke heroin in the destroyed former Russian Cultural Center, a notorious drug den on February 02, 2010 in Kabul, Afghanistan. As poppy production in Afghanistan is still high, opium and heroin are cheap and easily available. As a result, drug addiction is quickly becoming a growing problem in Afghanistan with a United Nations survey recently showing over 900,000 people in Afghanistan are considered drug addicts. Despite years of foreign involvement and the money being committed to Afghanistan from both private and governmental donors, Afghanistan is still plagued by chronic unemployment and neglected public services. Unemployment in the country of some 25 million people is still 40 per cent with more than half the population lives below the poverty line. A man's life expectancy in Afghanistan is 44.04 years, while a woman's is 44.39 years.
  10. KABUL, AFGHANISTAN - FEBRUARY 02: A man prepares to smoke heroin in the destroyed former Russian Cultural Center, a notorious drug den on February 02, 2010 in Kabul, Afghanistan. As poppy production in Afghanistan is still high, opium and heroin are cheap and easily available. As a result, drug addiction is quickly becoming a growing problem in Afghanistan with a United Nations survey recently showing over 900,000 people in Afghanistan are considered drug addicts. Despite years of foreign involvement and the money being committed to Afghanistan from both private and governmental donors, Afghanistan is still plagued by chronic unemployment and neglected public services. Unemployment in the country of some 25 million people is still 40 per cent with more than half the population lives below the poverty line. A man's life expectancy in Afghanistan is 44.04 years, while a woman's is 44.39 years.
  11. KABUL, AFGHANISTAN - FEBRUARY 02: Matin smokes heroin in the destroyed former Russian Cultural Center, a notorious drug den on February 02, 2010 in Kabul, Afghanistan. As poppy production in Afghanistan is still high, opium and heroin are cheap and easily available. As a result, drug addiction is quickly becoming a growing problem in Afghanistan with a United Nations survey recently showing over 900,000 people in Afghanistan are considered drug addicts. Despite years of foreign involvement and the money being committed to Afghanistan from both private and governmental donors, Afghanistan is still plagued by chronic unemployment and neglected public services. Unemployment in the country of some 25 million people is still 40 per cent with more than half the population lives below the poverty line. A man's life expectancy in Afghanistan is 44.04 years, while a woman's is 44.39 years.
  12. KABUL, AFGHANISTAN - FEBRUARY 02: Matin smokes heroin in the destroyed former Russian Cultural Center, a notorious drug den on February 02, 2010 in Kabul, Afghanistan. As poppy production in Afghanistan is still high, opium and heroin are cheap and easily available. As a result, drug addiction is quickly becoming a growing problem in Afghanistan with a United Nations survey recently showing over 900,000 people in Afghanistan are considered drug addicts. Despite years of foreign involvement and the money being committed to Afghanistan from both private and governmental donors, Afghanistan is still plagued by chronic unemployment and neglected public services. Unemployment in the country of some 25 million people is still 40 per cent with more than half the population lives below the poverty line. A man's life expectancy in Afghanistan is 44.04 years, while a woman's is 44.39 years.
  13. KABUL, AFGHANISTAN - FEBRUARY 02: Matin speaks about his heroin addiction in the destroyed former Russian Cultural Center, a notorious drug den on February 02, 2010 in Kabul, Afghanistan. As poppy production in Afghanistan is still high, opium and heroin are cheap and easily available. As a result, drug addiction is quickly becoming a growing problem in Afghanistan with a United Nations survey recently showing over 900,000 people in Afghanistan are considered drug addicts. Despite years of foreign involvement and the money being committed to Afghanistan from both private and governmental donors, Afghanistan is still plagued by chronic unemployment and neglected public services. Unemployment in the country of some 25 million people is still 40 per cent with more than half the population lives below the poverty line. A man's life expectancy in Afghanistan is 44.04 years, while a woman's is 44.39 years.
  14. KABUL, AFGHANISTAN - FEBRUARY 02: A man smokes heroin in the destroyed former Russian Cultural Center, a notorious drug den on February 02, 2010 in Kabul, Afghanistan. As poppy production in Afghanistan is still high, opium and heroin are cheap and easily available. As a result, drug addiction is quickly becoming a growing problem in Afghanistan with a United Nations survey recently showing over 900,000 people in Afghanistan are considered drug addicts. Despite years of foreign involvement and the money being committed to Afghanistan from both private and governmental donors, Afghanistan is still plagued by chronic unemployment and neglected public services. Unemployment in the country of some 25 million people is still 40 per cent with more than half the population lives below the poverty line. A man's life expectancy in Afghanistan is 44.04 years, while a woman's is 44.39 years.
  15. Drug addicted children, who are hospitalized with their mothers, play with balloons at the Sanga Amaj Treatment Center run by Social Services for Afghan Women (SSAW) in Kabul, Afghanistan on Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2010. Afghanistan is the world's largest producer of opium, the raw ingredient for heroine and it is considered a major funding sources for the Taliban. Though the majority of Afghanistan's massive opium crop is smuggled aboard to feed heroine demand in rich countries, many Afghans have also become addicted to the drug.
  16. Drug addicted children, who are hospitalized with their mothers, play with balloons at the Sanga Amaj Treatment Center run by Social Services for Afghan Women (SSAW) in Kabul, Afghanistan on Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2010. Afghanistan is the world's largest producer of opium, the raw ingredient for heroine and it is considered a major funding sources for the Taliban. Though the majority of Afghanistan's massive opium crop is smuggled aboard to feed heroine demand in rich countries, many Afghans have also become addicted to the drug.

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