Since returning to power in 2021, the Taliban have sought to completely eradicate the opium market by banning poppy cultivation in Afghanistan. The ban, enacted in April 2022, has successfully decreased opium production by an estimated 95% by 2023. While there were roughly 233,000 hectares of planted poppies to produce opium in 2022, cultivation dropped … Continue reading The Opium Balloon: Taliban Crackdown Moves Opium Market to Pakistan