“Eliminating opium production in Afghanistan is feasible”

It is possible to eradicate drug production in Afghanistan, but the locals should be provided with an alternative livelihood, says Pino Arlacchi, former director of the UN Office for Drugs Control and Crime Prevention.

“We have a strategy – we know what to do and not to do. We shouldn’t buy drugs from peasants, as it encourages them to [produce] more,” Arlacchi told RT. “The aim is to provide 1.6 million peasants in Afghanistan with adequate resources to live legally and in peace. We have the resources to do it. The EU alone spends one billion dollars a year on Afghanistan.”

Pino Arlacchi added that the common effort by the EU and Russia could be very efficient.