UNDCP Pakistan poppy-free

Pakistan has been declared "virtually poppy-free" according to the UN's drug control office in Islamabad. Bernard Frahi, representative of the UN Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention (UNDCP), told IRIN on Wednesday that Pakistan had reduced its opium production from 800 mt in 1979 to a negligible amount in 2000. According to previous reports, the tribal Khyber agency along the Afghan border still produces small amounts of opium. In the wake of the UN World Drug Report launch on Monday, Frahi considered this past year to be a "positive achievement", but added that "we have to remain vigilant", as people could be tempted to return to poppy cultivation for reasons of profit and sustenance. Frahi also hoped that Afghanistan, the world's biggest producer of opium and heroin, would follow its neighbour's example. There has been a slump in Afghan opium production this year due primarily to the severe drought. However, despite a 10 percent reduction in the total area cultivated, UNDCP surveys have indicated that the practice of poppy cultivation has actually spread to new villages in 21 additional districts. [For a complete copy of the World Drug Report 2000 see: http://www.undcp.org/world_drug_report.html]