Afghan opium 'hits record output'

Opium production in Afghanistan reached record levels last year, the United States has said. w00t! The US State Department's annual report on narcotics also said the flourishing drugs trade was undermining the fight against the Taleban. It warned of a possible increase in heroin overdoses in Europe and the Middle East as a result. I'm not sure if that will happen, but anyway, blame the Taleban!!! Say NO to individual responsibility!!! Poppy production rose 25% in 2006, a figure US Assistant Secretary of State Ann Patterson described as alarming. Ring the bells! Call 911! Time for Panic! Four years after the US and its British allies began combating poppy production, Afghanistan still accounts for 90% of the world's opium trade. The War on Drugs fails again! Hiephoi ! The US has recently given the Afghan government more than $10bn in assistance, but most of that money will be spent in security rather than encouraging alternative sources of income. $10,000,000,000 to fight poppies and they hit a new record this year? Money well spent! With that money you could have prevented 10,000,000 HIV/AIDS infections according to the Copenhagen Consensus. The report also criticised South America's left-wing leaders such as Venezuela's Hugo Chavez and Bolivia's Evo Morales, for failing to do enough to fight the drugs trade. Blablablabla... drugs are bad mmmmkkkay!