But without opium, how will we make our painkillers, like Zydrate?

So how was the poppy crop?

So I says to the guy, "Oh sure, poopsmithy and cheesecrafter may seem like a waste of professions to you, but one day you'll need to cut the cheese and shovel some sh*t. And there will be RelaximusPrime, ready to do both!"

Sounds like they're moving on to LSD

Poppycock.

Yay Helmand Valley Authority!

Palmer Eldritch: But without opium, how will we make our painkillers, like Zydrate?

that only works if afghanistan was recognized as one of the few nations allowed to produce opium for medical use...as you can probably guess it didn't make the cut

Exactly snocone.

Just because they grew a record amount of wheat does not mean they stopped growing or grew less poppy plants. Remember the truth is the first casualty in any war. Especially our nation's ideological War on Drugs.

numbone: Poppycock.

horsefeathers

How can you smoke wheat?

numbone: Poppycock cream of wheat

vudukungfu 2009-11-08 11:12:01 PM
numbone: Poppycock.

horsefeathers

codswallop

Kenny B: How can you smoke wheat?

wtf link

Smoked Wheat Beer (new window)

Kenny B: How can you smoke wheat?

I heard the gluten was publicly beheaded on a former soccer pitch that was converted to a execution plaza.

We must fight to end Islamic gluten intolerance.

I have coeliac disease, so I'm getting a kick out of these replies ...

A great conversation with Martin Luther King Jr. about tolerance and conflict resolution here.

Wow, who would have thought.

Growing food is better than growing an illegal crop.

You can help people AND make money!

Now, being Afghanistan, the people will raid and burn each others crops because an ancestor of the Kazari tribe accidentally spat on a camel belonging to the Hadana tribe eleven hundred years ago.

Then they will starve and blame the US for it, causing hundreds of thousands of students to spill out into the street, filling the air with chants denouncing Amerikkka, and the fetid stench of unwashed arm-pits.

chrischris451: Exactly snocone.

Just because they grew a record amount of wheat does not mean they stopped growing or grew less poppy plants. Remember the truth is the first casualty in any war. Especially our nation's ideological War on Drugs.

Well, FTA "Afghanistan's wheat boom helped halve poppy production in the grain-belt provinces from 2004 levels and forced opium growers to use five southern and eastern provinces, according to the Afghan government's 2009 national development plan."

Besides wheat, pomegranate crops are also getting credit for reducing poppy production, as they offer an alternate exportable crop.

Of course this is the Afghani government's assessment of the situation, so there's always the chance its 'look, see, we're getting better!' propaganda, or just general guesswork.

I'm not a WAAARGBLGRBR, for the record.

These programs have been shut down since Obama has taken office. My father in law is one of those that travels the 'stans, getting this sort of thing going. I think the pommegranate program mentioned was his last one in Afghanistan. These guys weren't actually done with this project when the funding was cut,because the wrong dude's boy was fired. If any of you care about this sort of news, look forward to massive failures of storage and replanting next season. Six months of projected work was completely ignored when the programs were turned off like a light, and the USAID dudes sent back to the US.

Budwieser outsourcing?


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Can wheat grown on the same acreage really pull in the same amount of profit as opium for a farmer? That sounds hard to believe.

horrified: Can wheat grown on the same acreage really pull in the same amount of profit as opium for a farmer? That sounds hard to believe.

I'm not going to do anything crazy like do research on it, but I would have to agree with you, taking into account the demand for poppy and the demand for wheat. There aren't very many places where poppy is mass produced, so I would think the supply would be lower, driving costs up. With them changing their crops to pom and wheat, I can only see the price for poppy getting higher in the years to come. Wheat can grow just about anywhere, at least some variety of it, so while the demand for wheat is going to be higher, its availability is going to be higher, making it cheaper (less shipping costs, distribution costs, etc).

My wife has celiac, so she feels the Afghani's pain.

I just made a loaf of homemade bread earlier this evening, so I'm getting a kick out of these replies.

Hung_Solo: horrified: Can wheat grown on the same acreage really pull in the same amount of profit as opium for a farmer? That sounds hard to believe.

I'm not going to do anything crazy like do research on it, but I would have to agree with you, taking into account the demand for poppy and the demand for wheat. There aren't very many places where poppy is mass produced, so I would think the supply would be lower, driving costs up. With them changing their crops to pom and wheat, I can only see the price for poppy getting higher in the years to come. Wheat can grow just about anywhere, at least some variety of it, so while the demand for wheat is going to be higher, its availability is going to be higher, making it cheaper (less shipping costs, distribution costs, etc).

One big consideration is that not only do the poppy growers not actually make opium, they also sell their product to people not known for being generous in negotiating price.

SharkTrager: Hung_Solo: horrified: Can wheat grown on the same acreage really pull in the same amount of profit as opium for a farmer? That sounds hard to believe.

I'm not going to do anything crazy like do research on it, but I would have to agree with you, taking into account the demand for poppy and the demand for wheat. There aren't very many places where poppy is mass produced, so I would think the supply would be lower, driving costs up. With them changing their crops to pom and wheat, I can only see the price for poppy getting higher in the years to come. Wheat can grow just about anywhere, at least some variety of it, so while the demand for wheat is going to be higher, its availability is going to be higher, making it cheaper (less shipping costs, distribution costs, etc).

One big consideration is that not only do the poppy growers not actually make opium, they also sell their product to people not known for being generous in negotiating price.

Good point. At least wheat doesn't lead to being murdered.

Don't you farkers know anything? You gotta rotate your crops! Plus, wheat makes a good cover crop/green manure.


/just finished planting 25 pounds of Rye
//Bourbon is refreshing after a hard days work
///tomorrow, I'm driving my chevy to the levy.
////bye, bye.

Opium is addictive as shiat. My neighbor used to have opium poppies, she'd cut the bulbs and harvest the shiat fresh off the plant, we worked for about 2 weeks remodeling her bathroom, smoking with her every morning before work and at lunch and again after work. The morning after we stopped working with her, I noticed my hands were shaking whenever I stretched my fingers out.

I did heroin about a year later and the feelings rushed straight back straight back as if I'd been toking opium again. Meth is addictive as shiat, but the damn opiates take the damn cake when it comes to pure want. You want more as soon as you hit it, it was even worse than crack. If you take a teaser dose, it's even worse.

Cut it back to the hash, as far as concentrates are concentrates are concerned. If not, you understand exactly how easy it is for people to become addicted to opiates.

/Cool story, bro, etc. etc.

I remember reading way back about how farmers in Bangladesh were encouraged to grow wheat then forced to adhere to prices determined by foreign wheat boards. They were driven further into poverty as a result.
I would not be surprised to see these same farmers going back to opium in the future.

Also, Afghani grass has more notoriety nowadays then their heroin. The wetbacks will rave over "Columbiano" and "Peruso" "chiva" but give you the Afghani half price.


It's still H, and I never experimented enough to be able to distinguish, but the shiat hits you hard and demands your attention enough to scare you if you have exp. with addictions...

On a note that will possibly contribute something to the discussion...

Assuming Afghan wheat is worth $250 a ton (which is insanely generous) the entire harvest is only worth roughly $1 Billion. Opium poppies according to TFA are worth $3 Billion.

Hungry people will go through a lot of trouble to get food, but have you ever heard of a whore workin to feed her Wheaties habit?

/in reality, the wheat is probably worth around $125 a ton.

Hm.

Shiats due to celiac disease...
Shiats due to opium withdrawals...

It's just not a great option, either way. Still, opium has way more versatility on the open market. You can trade a sack of wheat for: money or wheat products. You can trade a sack of opium poppy byproduct for: hostages, weapons, more drugs, food, gold, camels, ammo, more gold, women, boys, whores, etc. etc.

Drugs are just easier to move than wheat.

Palmer Eldritch: But without opium, how will we make our painkillers, like Zydrate

I think I've heard of that.. Does it come in a little glass vial?

Gyrfalcon: Hm.

Shiats due to celiac disease...
Shiats due to opium withdrawals...

It's just not a great option, either way. Still, opium has way more versatility on the open market. You can trade a sack of wheat for: money or wheat products. You can trade a sack of opium poppy byproduct for: hostages, weapons, more drugs, food, gold, camels, ammo, more gold, women, boys, whores, etc. etc.

Drugs are just easier to move than wheat.

You know, there ARE legal uses for poppy, right?

Hydrocodone is the most prescribed medication in the US. Don't we need the raw opium to produce all of the pain killers that we legally consume. Also, wouldn't it be cheaper to just buy and destroy any excess poppy crops than sending in boatloads of troops to try to deal with it?

Did someone say ?

Swampthing in Korea: Wow, who would have thought.

Growing food is better than growing an illegal crop.

You can help people AND make money!

Now, being Afghanistan, the people will raid and burn each others crops because an ancestor of the Kazari tribe accidentally spat on a camel belonging to the Hadana tribe eleven hundred years ago.

Then they will starve and blame the US for it, causing hundreds of thousands of students to spill out into the street, filling the air with chants denouncing Amerikkka, and the fetid stench of unwashed arm-pits.

Who pissed in your cherrios? It makes more money in the short term to grow opium, and the bumper crop is only there because it finally rained. Oh, I'm sure they could bootstrap themselves into growing more U.S. legal things, but then the govt would be telling them what to grow, and that would not be very bootstrappy. But hey, the entire world is like the U.S., amirite? Keep on being an ignorant douche bag. It looks good on you.

Hung_Solo: Gyrfalcon: Hm.

Shiats due to celiac disease...
Shiats due to opium withdrawals...

It's just not a great option, either way. Still, opium has way more versatility on the open market. You can trade a sack of wheat for: money or wheat products. You can trade a sack of opium poppy byproduct for: hostages, weapons, more drugs, food, gold, camels, ammo, more gold, women, boys, whores, etc. etc.

Drugs are just easier to move than wheat.

You know, there ARE legal uses for poppy, right?

Sure.

But there are more ILLEGAL uses for poppy than there are for wheat. Ergo: poppy is a much better crop. You can sell it illegally and then when the narco-police get too close, sell it legally. You can't do that with oats and barley.

panic in needle park? let's see what happens to street prices for H before we get too excited about the Afghan "success."

/"Avoid all needle drugs. The only dope worth shooting is Richard Nixon." -- Abby Hoffman
//Not advocating violence.

The real fark? If the Afghan wheat crop substitution is to work, tyhe US will have to buy that wheat...and you can bet that US wheat farmers will suffer. Then we'll see who's got the clout.

Afghanis getting their Wheat on. Where there's a Wil there's a way.

The Case for Poppy grows Cold.

That part of the world was the first to mass produce wheat. I'm pretty sure the Middle East has some of the lowest rates of gluten sensitivity. Those people would have diet off pretty early.

BuckTurgidson: The crops, the grains.
Fields of rippling wheat.
Wheat. All there is in life is wheat.

Oh, wheat! Lots of wheat! Fields of wheat.
A tremendous amount of wheat!
Yellow wheat. Red wheat.
Wheat with feathers. Cream of wheat.


Soon we shall be covered by wheat.

Did you say . . . wheat?

Wheat.



Wheat.

I lol'ed so hard. :)

Stonerbloopers: Don't you farkers know anything? You gotta rotate your crops! Plus, wheat makes a good cover crop/green manure.


/just finished planting 25 pounds of Rye
//Bourbon is refreshing after a hard days work
///tomorrow, I'm driving my chevy to the levy.
////bye, bye.

I heard it was dry.