Afghan opium output sparks rise in cheaper heroin supply: UN

VIENNA: Opium cultivation and production in Afghanistan have reached record levels, triggering “a large increase” in cheaper heroin supply in the US, the United Nations said on Friday.
Afghan poppy fields covered some 224,000 hectares (553,500 acres) in 2014 — a seven-percent rise from the 209,000 hectares the previous year, according to a new study by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
As the world’s largest opium producer, Afghanistan’s steady increase has had a direct impact on global opium cultivation, which with 310,891 hectares is now at its highest since the late 1930s, UNODC noted in its annual World Drugs report.
Estimated global production of opiates meanwhile doubled in two years from 3,700 tons in 2012 to 7,554 tons in 2014. Afghanistan accounted for 85 percent of the global output.