AlsoTapered
Bluelighter
Well - in maybe 5 or 6 years, THEN their might be a H shortage in Europe. The 20 years the US controlled Afghanistan were the 'golden years' of opium production. Every year a new record. But the price of H didn't COLLAPSE. Why? Because the large dealers on the supply route to Europe all keep very large (multiple years worth) of H in storage.
As others have said, these people have been in the heroin trade for generations. Nature alone will see good years and bad years in terms of harvest so long ago they learnt to buy ALL the H and just ensure that the market is supplied but not oversupplied - as any mature business would operate.
The EMCDDA estimated that the H on UK streets was, on average, 7 years old. Keep it dry, keep it cool, it lasts a long, long time.
And if you think The Taliban cares about non-Muslim users then you are crazy. It's the fact that opium and heroin use has become a huge problem WITHIN Afghanistan that they banned poppy growing. That was a function of overproduction - some growers could find no external market.
It's hard to predict the H market years in the future but the Shan State is growing increasing amounts of opium to fund their civil war. Opium was previously grown on absolutely huge scales in India (think British East India Company) to exchange for tea with the Chinese for 200+ years and more recently Turkey and Pakistan are also sizable growers.
The poppy isn't THAT choosey. I mean, it's legally grown on a huge scale in Tazmania of all places. So look at a political map. Zambia and other African nations have proven physically suited to growing opium. So look for civil wars.
As others have said, these people have been in the heroin trade for generations. Nature alone will see good years and bad years in terms of harvest so long ago they learnt to buy ALL the H and just ensure that the market is supplied but not oversupplied - as any mature business would operate.
The EMCDDA estimated that the H on UK streets was, on average, 7 years old. Keep it dry, keep it cool, it lasts a long, long time.
And if you think The Taliban cares about non-Muslim users then you are crazy. It's the fact that opium and heroin use has become a huge problem WITHIN Afghanistan that they banned poppy growing. That was a function of overproduction - some growers could find no external market.
It's hard to predict the H market years in the future but the Shan State is growing increasing amounts of opium to fund their civil war. Opium was previously grown on absolutely huge scales in India (think British East India Company) to exchange for tea with the Chinese for 200+ years and more recently Turkey and Pakistan are also sizable growers.
The poppy isn't THAT choosey. I mean, it's legally grown on a huge scale in Tazmania of all places. So look at a political map. Zambia and other African nations have proven physically suited to growing opium. So look for civil wars.