Local MEP Nirj Deva has today (Wednesday) spoken of his “complete and utter determination” to rid the streets of South East England of the scourge of drugs.

Speaking on the floor of the European Parliament, Deva put forward a dramatic package of measures designed to vastly cut back the level of Heroin imported to the United Kingdom from Afghanistan, the primary world producer of this drug.

The MEP, who faces re-election in June 2004 said:

“During my visit to Afghanistan in June, I was informed that the total value of the poppy crops at the farm gate is around 750 million Euros, however when this crop is processed into Heroin it yields a street value of in excess of 12.5 billion Euros!

“I believe it is the duty of the European Parliament to work to ensure that income-earning opportunities for the poor are created in Afghanistan, for example, raisin and fruit growing to combat the need for impoverished farmers to turn to dabbling in the drugs trade.

“I propose to manage this transition from poppy growing to fruit and raisin growing in a similar fashion as the European Union currently does with Greek tobacco crops which are bought and then burned.

Through a system reformed system of financial incentives for the developing world as well as stronger policing, I am confident that we can smash this cruel trade with blights the lives of so many of my constituents before these drugs even reach our shores”

Note To Editors

Text of Nirj Deva MEP’s speech to the European Parliament:

A successful Development/Aid Policy for Afghanistan requires a comprehensive campaign against the Drugs Trade in a country which has become the world's largest producer of poppy, the crop used to make opium.

Just as a quick background: The amount of revenue spent by Member State police forces, custom services and anti drug squads to control the heroin imports and use alone add up to almost 4 billion Euro per year.

The number of arrests for drug law offences throughout the EU is around 700,000 per year. 60,000 people are imprisoned every year for drug offences, leading to annual custodial costs of 1.5 billion Euro.

So how do we solve the drug problem in Afghanistan? What we need is an "Alternative Development" approach for Afghanistan, which integrates the EU' drug policy into its Development Policy. Without offering the rural population economically viable and sustainable means of earning an income, they will not stop producing these crops, and drugs will continue to flood our societies and lead to billions of Euro worth of resulting costs.

The total value for example of the poppy crop at the farm gate in Afghanistan, where I was last June, is estimated at EUR 750,million.

However, its heroin street value is estimated at EUR 12.5 billion!!!

Therefore is it not far better to stop this trade at the point of growing rather than at the point of consumption or distribution? If we do this we will save EUR 4 billion in policing costs and 1.5 billion in custodial costs; not forgetting the lives of those millions who rather than being a burden on society would have been contributors to our societies.

New income-earning opportunities for the poor will have to be created, mainly by assisting with the production of legal cash crops, such as raisins for example (Afghanistan used to be the world leader), but also by assisting communities in establishing local institutions for processing, transporting and selling crops to make sure livelihoods are sustainable.

The key is community involvement, i.e. farmers associations and other organizations that are committed to the production of legal crops and are powerful enough to resist pressure from drug traffickers to participate in the underground economy.
Assistance is particularly needed with regard to:

• agricultural extension and other advice to help farmers produce alternative crops
• support in identifying crops that are in demand by international and local consumers
• technical assistance in starting up crop-processing and value addition facilities
• assistance in establishing credit systems that enable farmer associations to grow, process,
   market and transport crops
• instruction in business management and accounting
• guidance in packaging and marketing goods.

I propose to manage this transition from poppy growing to fruit and raisin growing, as we now do under the CAP for Greek tobacco, which we buy and burn. A similar exercise could be done for the poppy crop in Afghanistan, in the early years. While implementing the "Alternative Development" approach, which will include buying and burning of poppy crops, we will also need to stop drug dealers from pushing up the price they can offer the farmers for the crop by making it more difficult for them to transport it across borders.