Chandler Hood
Leland Clemmons
Period 1, 3
Lori Fisher – Humanities
The Illegal Opium Trade is the Iron Lung of the Afghanistan Economy
For several years, Afghanistan has been the world’s leading producer of illegal opium. In fact, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime has estimated that Afghanistan produced over 90% of the total illegal opium in 2007. The Afghan farmers sell the opium to Taliban insurgents who then refine it into heroin and sell it so as to fund their terrorism. Afghanistan’s government has very little control over the provinces that produce opium, due to the insurgent’s presence in those areas. The United States and Britain have begun raiding and destroying these rogue Afghanistan farms, despite the strong insurgent resistance. The United States and Britain have encouraged farmers to grow alternative crops such as cotton, rather than opium poppies. However, most of the farmers are hesitant to halt opium poppy cultivation because growing the opium poppies is the only way to generate enough revenue to support their families. Our metaphor compares the similarities between the Afghan opium trade and the iron lung. Before the discovery of a vaccine, polio was a life-threatening disease that afflicted hundreds of thousands. The iron lung is a machine that allows individuals with polio to breathe.
This metaphor expresses the important role that the illegal opium trade plays in the Afghanistan economy. Because of the very similar situations, there are many resultant relevant similarities. Firstly, the iron lung, an outdated medical device, allowed individuals with polio to breathe and stay alive, while the illegal opium trade supports a large portion of the Afghanistan economy which thus keeps Afghanistan “alive.” Also, both Afghanistan and polio patients rest in dire situations: Afghanistan does not have a stable government and polio patients are slowly dying. The iron lung is not a permanent solution for individuals with polio because it does not cure them of polio, and the opium poppy cultivation is not a permanent solution due to the international opposition towards the drug trade.