The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime said in a report that Afghanistan continued to account for the “majority (80 per cent) of global illicit opium production in 2022”. June 26th marks the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking. However, the Islamic Emirate’s spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said that there has been no new survey about the poppy cultivation in the country.  “It has been two years since the cultivation of poppy has been banned. I am sure that even one percent has not been cultivated, if it was cultivated, it has been eliminated. It means that in 2023 we have absolutely cleaned Afghanistan of cultivation of poppy… the 80 percent claim is not correct,” he said. Educated But Unemployed Youth Say They Will Need to Leave the Country In a separate report released by the UNODC, it said that Afghanistan is home to an estimated 3.5 million drug users, a number that accounts for nearly 10 percent of the total population. “Since political change in August 2021, most drug treatment and rehabilitation centers in the country are struggling to remain operational due to resource limitation,” the report said. “The ban on cultivation of poppy and production of … Continue reading Afghanistan Account for 80% of Global Illicit Opium Production in 2022: UN