Eradication

Peruvian President Alan Garcia asks for the death penalty for terrorism after Shining Path guerillas attack police and anti-drug workers trying to wipe out illicit coca crops. The following day, he says coca is great in salads.

Congress has passed a measure that will allow for the testing of potentially dangerous mycoherbicides to be used to destroy illicit drug crops. But in a victory for reformers, the okay will be limited to labs in the US -- not fields in Latin America.

With Afghan opium production going through the roof, US drug czar John Walters announced Saturday that the Afghan government would begin using herbicides to eradicate the poppy crop. But the Afghan government hasn't officially agreed yet.

The South Pacific island nation of Vanuatu is seeing increased marijuana use and cultivation. While the usual suspects raise concerns, at least one member of parliament is sticking up for growers.

Professor Barnett Rubin gives the Senate Foreign Relations Committee a tutorial on the economic and political consequences of prohibition when it comes to Afghan opium.

The Bush administration used its annual drug certification exercise to lash out at Bolivia and Venezuela, and those two countries returned the favor.

Peruvian President Alain Garcia campaigned on a promise to stop coca eradication. Now, he's changing his tune -- and his policies.

US AID is pulling out of southern Colombia and the Colombian army is rolling in, as Washington and Bogota give up on the province of Caqueta.

Guatemalan authorities declared a form of martial law in San Marcos province this week in a bid to crack down on opium growing and drug trafficking.

As NATO takes over in southern Afghanistan, fighting is flaring and opium is driving much of it. Now, European politicians are beginning to embrace a controversial opium licensing scheme.