After the invasion of U.S. forces, many citizens of Afghanistan were at a standstill when they were told not to farm anymore heroin. The Afghan economy was barely surviving at that time and with heroin the only source of incomes to thousands of farmers, it was either farm heroin or starve. Yes, the U.S. did promise to reconstruct Afghanistan liked it promised to reconstruct Iraq. Both of the promises have been left empty and the citizens in Afghanistan are now and have been for the most part saying “to hell with what America wants me to do…” I need to support my family.

Well, it seems they are hard at work as Afghan heroin is on the rise according to several newspapers in California such as the L.A. Times and the Register Guard. It is relatively simple from a chemistry standpoint to pinpoint where the heroin was produced. According to the L.A. Times “”The rise of heroin from Afghanistan is our biggest rising threat in the fight against narcotics,” said Orange County sheriff’s spokesman Jim Amormino. “We are seeing more seizures and more overdoses.”

In fact, it is estimated by the Department of Homeland Security that there is an increase in heroin trafficking after the U.S. lead invasion. The market share of Afghan heroin was 7% in 2001, the year the U.S. government toppled the Taliban. In 2004, it was 14%.

So by not providing an alternative for farmers, we now have a growing problem of more drugs here in America. The Bush Administration had no real plans on the social aftermath that would result in toppling the Taliban. It also seems they continued that trend into the Iraq War. Nonetheless, as more drugs enter our community courtesy of the Bush Administration, we as a nation are left to pick of the pieces with social policies that are ill-equipped to deal with the already drug addiction in our local communities.