Opium Nation: Unveiling Afghanistan's Tragic Reality

Life for Fariba Nawa after 18 years was an eye opener and a very tragic experience. Nawa coined a way to narrate a story of an Afghan society, she once knew. The multibillion drug trade now ruled her country. In 1999 they made between $25 million and $75 million just from taxing opium farmers and traffickers (106). It was surrounded with opium, crime, smugglers and opium brides. Opium brides were sold to traffickers to pay off a pervious opium debt. The opium have taken over and damaged the lives of many Afghanistan residents.

Opium Nation: Child Brides, Drug Lords, and One Woman’s Journey Through Afghanistan by Fariba Nawa explain the “opium brides” situation in detail. The search and rescue of twelve year old Darya, who was sold to smugglers by her father to pay off a debt

generalized the unintended consequence woman faced. They were forced to participate in such activities they did not want to have anything to do with. They was taught to cook the opium causing them to become farmers or even smugglers themselves. Families were in jeopardy and little girls were handed over to their new husbands against their will.
Opium brides was the new trend in Afghanistan.

This trend was heartbreaking but it is also a reality. Marrying Darya was not new to her father but a secure way to pay off a debt. “I’m not going! I’m not going” (119). Forcing a child to marry is a human waste and cheap sorrow. Marrying girls at a young age is the way to settle debts and improve family’s finical situations. This business deal is unprecedented and unjust. Selling a daughter to pay off a debt is not acceptable or normal. Despite the terrifying story of the opium brides, the bigger issue is the reason behind the debt.

Growing poppy is seen as a real opportunity for Afghan farmers and families. Many are persuaded by the income the poppy heads are bringing in and is convinced that this illicit crop is the only survival. Afghan families are weaken by the drug trade. They are developed inconsistent ways to accumulate wealth. They are becoming stuck in an ongoing cycle of opium and debt. The drug and crime connection varies and innocent families are caught in the crossfire. Nawa just provided with this text that crime does cause drug use. The stressful life on growing and selling opium leads to daughter being used to pay off a

debt.
Marrying a girl before she reach puberty increasing the availability of illegal drugs. The war on drugs in Afghanistan created ethic disparities and gender conflict. Allowing the United States to control government enforced drug polices from going across the borders. The idea of smugglers getting killed for trying to get opium across the borders is ridiculous. A nation so powerful is allowing this to continue to happen due to profit. In the course, opium assembly a pathway to heroin. Heroin is “one of the major drugs of abuse in the United States” (Belenko & Spohn 26). Making heroin the most abused opiate and Afghanistan the world’s biggest producer of this product.
After the cultivation banned of poppy it increased more than ever. Controlling the opium according to Nawa, was a complete struggle. Competing for the control of the opium created organized crime, powerful business and shortcut to heroin routes. The revenue from the opium is the backbone for Afghan economy.