The Poppy Fields of Afghanistan

<p>The health and safety of deployed American troops is of primary importance to the US military. There are often dangers faced by deployed forces that have little to do with combat and much to do with the region deployed to. One such danger would be the overwhelming availability of illicit drugs. The use of illicit drugs has been acknowledged by the military as a large detractor from the health and safety of US military membersi. The US is currently engaged in Afghanistan in an effort that will probably keep US troops deployed there for many years to come. Afghanistan is the producer of over 87% of the world's supply of heroinii. Afghanistan is part of the Golden Crescent an area named for the gold brought in to pay for opium produced there. During the Vietnam War drugs were a tremendous problem in the military with some reports indicating that 67% of Vietnam veterans had problems with drug abuse with nearly 23% admitting to heroin use.iii During the Vietnam War the Golden Triangle region the name given to the opium producing area including Myanmar (Burma) Thailand and Laos surrounding Vietnam was the world's major producer of heroin.</p><p>This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore you will see the original copyright references library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world) and other notations in the work.</p><p>This work is in the public domain in the United States of America and possibly other nations. Within the United States you may freely copy and distribute this work as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.</p><p>As a reproduction of a historical artifact this work may contain missing or blurred pages poor pictures errant marks etc. Scholars believe and we concur that this work is important enough to be preserved reproduced and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.</p>