{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,13]],"date-time":"2026-10-13T15:28:39Z","timestamp":1791905319694,"version":"4.3.4"},"reference-count":22,"publisher":"BMJ","issue":"5","content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["J Epidemiol Community Health"],"accepted":{"date-parts":[[2010,12,22]]},"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2011,5]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>Since the overthrow of the Taliban in 2001, there has been an overall increase in illicit opium production in Afghanistan and mounting human losses. The United Nations has attributed 1 million human deaths to Afghan opiates over the past decade. As the war in Afghanistan nears a crucial mark, the NATO coalition forces and Afghan people can no longer afford the same ineffective counternarcotics strategy. This commentary proposes a strategic revision that reframes Afghanistan's poppy problem as an opportunity for global public health. Specifically, The Afghan poppy crop could be repurposed away from illicit drug production, and towards manufacturing licit opioid analgesics to address unmet needs for pain palliation, particularly for diseases such as HIV\/AIDS and cancer in the developing world\u2014that is, illegal opium could be converted into legal pain medicine, solving two problems at once. We present a supply-and-demand that illustrates how this useful exchange could be made, and discuss the political opposition that now stands in the way and perpetuates the unsatisfactory status quo in Afghanistan.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1136\/jech.2010.126847","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2011,1,31]],"date-time":"2011-01-31T20:24:36Z","timestamp":1296505476000},"page":"396-398","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["For peace and pain: the medical legitimisation of Afghanistan's poppy crop"],"prefix":"10.1136","volume":"65","author":[{"given":"Amir","family":"Attaran","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Andrew","family":"Boozary","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"239","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2011,1,30]]},"reference":[{"key":"2025100308530804000_65.5.396.1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/S0955-3959(03)00006-9"},{"key":"2025100308530804000_65.5.396.2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/S0140-6736(09)60455-4"},{"key":"2025100308530804000_65.5.396.3","unstructured":"United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. Addiction, Crime and Insurgency: The Transnational Threat of Afghan Opium. 2009."},{"key":"2025100308530804000_65.5.396.4","unstructured":"United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. Afghanistan Opium Survey 2010. 2010."},{"key":"2025100308530804000_65.5.396.5","unstructured":"United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. Afghanistan Opium Survey 2008. 2010."},{"key":"2025100308530804000_65.5.396.6","unstructured":"Eikenberry K . Afghanistan: Capital Flight and its Impact on Future Stability. http:\/\/www.guardian.co.uk\/world\/us-embassy-cables-documents\/230265 (accessed 19 Oct 2009)."},{"key":"2025100308530804000_65.5.396.7","unstructured":"International Narcotics Control Board. Estimated World Requirements for 2009, Statistics for 2007 (accessed 7 Mar 2009)."},{"key":"2025100308530804000_65.5.396.8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1213\/01.ane.0000267542.72315.34"},{"key":"2025100308530804000_65.5.396.9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1002\/1097-0142(19821101)50:9<1913::AID-CNCR2820500944>3.0.CO;2-R"},{"key":"2025100308530804000_65.5.396.10","unstructured":"Breitbart W . Pain. In: O'Neill JF Selwyn P Schietinger H , eds. A Clinical Guide to Supportive and Palliative Care for HIV\/AIDS. Washington, DC: Health Resources and Services Administration, 2003:85\u2013122."},{"key":"2025100308530804000_65.5.396.11","first-page":"59","article-title":"Potent analgesics are more expensive for patients in developing countries: a comparative study","volume":"18","author":"De Lima","year":"2004","journal-title":"J Pain Palliati Care Pharmacother"},{"key":"2025100308530804000_65.5.396.12","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1089\/109662104322737368"},{"key":"2025100308530804000_65.5.396.13","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/449268a"},{"key":"2025100308530804000_65.5.396.14","unstructured":"INCB. Comments on the Reported Statistics on Narcotic Drugs 2009. http:\/\/www.incb.org\/pdf\/technical-reports\/narcotic-drugs\/2009\/en_comments.pdf (accessed 10 Jun 2010)."},{"key":"2025100308530804000_65.5.396.15","unstructured":"United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. 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Foreign Affairs August 2010. http:\/\/www.foreignaffairs.com\/articles\/66450\/stephen-biddle-fotini-christia-and-j-alexander-thier\/defining-success-in-afghanistan (accessed 21 Jan 2011)."},{"key":"2025100308530804000_65.5.396.21","unstructured":"Bhattacharji R . Case Study: India's Experiences in Licensing Poppy Cultivation for the Production of Medicines\u2014Lessons for Afghanistan. 2007. http:\/\/www.icosgroup.net\/documents\/india_case_study.pdf."},{"key":"2025100308530804000_65.5.396.22","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1136\/bmj.39554.402199.BE"}],"container-title":["Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/syndication.highwire.org\/content\/doi\/10.1136\/jech.2010.126847","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,3]],"date-time":"2025-10-03T15:53:13Z","timestamp":1759506793000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/jech.bmj.com\/lookup\/doi\/10.1136\/jech.2010.126847"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2011,1,30]]},"references-count":22,"journal-issue":{"issue":"5","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2011,4,4]]},"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2011,5]]}},"alternative-id":["10.1136\/jech.2010.126847"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1136\/jech.2010.126847","relation":{},"ISSN":["0143-005X","1470-2738"],"issn-type":[{"value":"0143-005X","type":"print"},{"value":"1470-2738","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2011,1,30]]}}}