An idea floated by a top U.S. economist is making the rounds in Washington these days: stop trying to eradicate the poppy fields in Afghanistan and just buy the finished product from the Taliban. “It’s going to wind up here anyway, said Paul Krugman, Nobel Prize winning economist, “and what little is seized by law enforcement costs taxpayers much more than if the U.S. just bought the stuff outright”. He pointed out that opium costs about $5 a pound in Afghanistan, while on the streets of American cities that same amount would sell to users for $250,000. “And if you add in the cost of drug interdiction, planes, dogs, cops, doughnuts, the cost is about $1 million for that same one pound”. Krugman’s plan brought peals of laughter from Republicans in the House of Representatives. House Minority Leader John Boener (pronounced BONER) said that while intercepting tons of opium at the source through a payout plan to the Taliban would practically wipe out the drug trade in the U.S., “there’s no way for Congress to cash in on it”. He expanded on the theme saying, “taxpayer money not spent on the War on Drugs would just wind up being used for shit like building schools, hospitals and roads. The Taliban don’t have any lobbyists in Washington yet, so I don’t see any way for politicians to make a red cent off this plan”. He then returned to doodling in the margins of the Congressional Digest in his lap while voting “no” on the latest legislation proposed by the Democrats.
Save U.S. Economy: Buy Taliban’s Opium
