This new entry in the growing literature on the opioid crisis digs deep and paints a picture that isn't pretty. But the book's laser-sharp focus on corporate and political malfeasance omits much of the context in which this crisis has unfolded, and that context is important.
The history of drug prohibition is increasingly well-trodden territory, but with Opium's Orphans, British historian P.E. Caquet brings a fascinating new perspective embedded in a sweeping narrative and fortified with an erudite grasp of the broad global historical context.
The opium poppy is an economic mainstay in Afghanistan. Can the Taliban really suppress it? (UNODC)
On April 3, the Taliban announced a ban on drug cultivation in Afghanistan, for years the world's dominant opium producer, accounting for more than 80 percent of the global supply
Opium production is surging in Afghanistan's poppy heartlands of Helmand and Kandahar. (UNODC)
Oklahoma Republicans move to take on what they see as an out of control medical marijuana system, Afghan farmers are planting more opium poppies this year, and more. [image:1 align:right
Afghanistan has been by far the world's leading supplier of opium for the past 20 years, but now the Taliban say they are going to stop it. Will they? Can they?