KABUL, Afghanistan, Nov. 27 (UPI) -- The new chief of the United Nations' anti-drug campaign said Saturday Afghan farmers must be helped to switch from opium to legal crops.
Russian diplomat Yuri Fedotov, director of the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime, visited Kabul and met with President Hamid Karzai to discuss drug production and trafficking, RIA Novosti reported.
"We must ensure that Afghan farmers will have access to markets and conditions for normal agricultural production," Fedotov said. "We have to provide Afghan farmers a chance and opportunity to fend for their families, without planting poppy."
Fedotov said a few weeks ago his agency would carry out a new drug strategy in Afghanistan.
Afghan drug production jumped after the U.S.-led invasion in 2001, and Russia has been plagued by rising heroin consumption. Russia estimates 90 percent of its heroin comes from Afghanistan via Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
Russia has long criticized NATO's efforts to stem the traffic.
