@financialtimes.com builds on @mansfieldintinc.bsky.social & @alcis.org reporting & not behind a paywall – read while you can! Covered by 10 other media outlets including: @thetelegraph.bsky.social & @dailyexpressnews.bsky.social #OpiumEconomy #Pakistan #Afghanistan #DrugPolicy on.ft.com/47JdlGu

Pakistan battles resurgent opium trade

[FREE TO READ] Authorities are intensifying crackdown after Taliban ban pushes drug trade into neighbouring country

on.ft.com

Poppy cultivation figures from @alcis.org for 2025 covering 6 provinces that were responsible for 80% of cultivation in 2022. Shows increase but not as dramatic as rumoured. Highlights the importance of genuinely mixed methods for generating robust evidence base for policy making

@mansfieldintinc.bsky.social · last yr.

1. Rumours of a dramatic upturn in poppy cultivation in Southwest Afghanistan have not been borne out in 2025 as shown in the latest @alcis.org blog www.alcis.org/post/opiate-...

1. Rumours of a dramatic upturn in poppy cultivation in Southwest Afghanistan have not been borne out in 2025 as shown in the latest @alcis.org blog www.alcis.org/post/opiate-...

Opiate supplies continue despite the Taliban drugs ban

While many argue that a shift into synthetic opioids downstream in Europe is a function of a shortage of opium in Afghanistan caused by the Taliban drugs ban, opium prices in Afghanistan have been fal...

alcis.org

Patterns of poppy cultivation varied across Helmand province this year. @mansfieldintinc.bsky.social explains in this article (www.alcis.org/post/opiate-...) that in accessible areas, poppy fields remained small & isolated. In remote areas, poppy fields were visible from the road & more contiguous.

Mahmoud Khalil reunites with family after more than 100 days in Ice detention

Mahmoud Khalil reunites with family after more than 100 days in Ice detention

Columbia graduate and legal US resident was targeted by White House for speaking out against the Israeli war in Gaza Mahmoud Khalil – the Palestinian rights activist, Columbia University graduate and legal permanent resident of the US who had been held by federal immigration authorities for more than three months – has been reunited with his wife and infant son. Khalil, the most high-profile student to be targeted by the Trump administration for speaking out against Israel’s war on Gaza, arrived in New Jersey on Saturday at about 1pm – two hours later than expected after his flight was first rerouted to Philadelphia. Continue reading...

theguardian.com

Update on the Taliban's drug ban from @mansfieldintinc.bsky.social, looking at factors for continued opiate supplies; inventories in southwest Afghanistan, cultivation in Badakhshan, improved processing techniques, & increases in poppy cultivation in Pakistan in 2025. www.alcis.org/post/opiate-...

Opiate supplies continue despite the Taliban drugs ban

While many argue that a shift into synthetic opioids downstream in Europe is a function of a shortage of opium in Afghanistan caused by the Taliban drugs ban, opium prices in Afghanistan have been fal...

alcis.org

1/4 Blog @lawfaremedia.org with @alcis.org funded by @XCEPT It focuses on the transformative effects of solar power: how it has supported Afghan farmers cope with climate change but ultimately how its expansion now threatens the livelihoods of 3.65 million people www.lawfaremedia.org/article/unde...

1. With the ephedra season now drawn to a close & the poppy planting season in full swing, it is an ideal time to assess the impact of the Taliban drug ban on the methamphetamine & opium industries, & the implications for the rural economy, & the political stability of Afghanistan.