联合国:阿富汗的鸦片种植下降了48%

AS IT IS 2015-10-19 UN: Opium¹ Grown in Afghanistan Down by 48% 联合国:阿富汗的鸦片种植下降了48%

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime says the amount of opium produced in Afghanistan has dropped by almost half compared to last year.

Andrey Avetisyan is the UN agency’s regional representative. He says Afghanistan produced 3,300 tons of opium this year as compared to 6,400 tons last year. He spoke² to reporters on Wednesday in Kabul, the Afghan capital.

Officials say one reason for the sharp drop is better cooperation between law enforcement agencies and Afghan policy makers³. They also say less land is being used to grow opium poppy plants. And they say growers are harvesting fewer poppies for every hectare they plant. Opium is a drug made from the dried opium poppy plant. The drug is illegal in many countries.

The reported drop in production comes after years of rising production levels in Afghanistan.

Mr. Avetisyan says opium cultivation⁴ in 2015 decreased by 19 percent throughout the country. But he says it increased in northern Afghanistan because of a breakdown⁵ in security in some places.

More opium is grown in Helmand than in any other province. But production there was reported to be down by 16 percent compared to last year. There were also reductions in nine other areas.

They are Kandahar, Kapisa, Zabul, Farah, Nimoroz, Herat, Nangarhar, Laghman and Badkhashan.

Mr. Avetisyan added that the Afghan drug problem is still serious. He says it can only be solved if the government works closely with the international community.

He says the UN agency hopes Afghanistan will become more secure. He says that will help in the fight against the growth, production, use, transport and export of illegal drugs.

Afghanistan produces more than 80 percent of the opium sold throughout the world. Experts believe money from the drug trade supports Taliban militants⁶ in their campaign to oust⁷ the Afghan government.

American officials say opium worsens corruption⁸ and insecurity in Afghanistan and harms the legal economy.

The United States has spent 7.6 billion dollars to help fight the drug trade in Afghanistan since 2001.

Words in This Story

cultivate – v. to grow and care for (plants)

regional – adj. relating to an area

insecurity – adj. relating to a lack of security

1 opium   

n.鸦片；adj.鸦片的

参考例句：

• That man gave her a dose of opium.那男人给了她一剂鸦片。
• Opium is classed under the head of narcotic.鸦片是归入麻醉剂一类的东西。

2 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

3 makers   

n.制造者，制造商（maker的复数形式）

参考例句：

• The makers of the product assured us that there had been no sacrifice of quality. 这一产品的制造商向我们保证说他们没有牺牲质量。
• The makers are about to launch out a new product. 制造商们马上要生产一种新产品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 cultivation   

n.耕作，培养，栽培（法），养成

参考例句：

• The cultivation in good taste is our main objective.培养高雅情趣是我们的主要目标。
• The land is not fertile enough to repay cultivation.这块土地不够肥沃，不值得耕种。

5 breakdown   

n.垮，衰竭；损坏，故障，倒塌

参考例句：

• She suffered a nervous breakdown.她患神经衰弱。
• The plane had a breakdown in the air,but it was fortunately removed by the ace pilot.飞机在空中发生了故障，但幸运的是被王牌驾驶员排除了。

6 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

7 oust   

vt.剥夺，取代，驱逐

参考例句：

• The committee wanted to oust him from the union.委员会想把他从工会中驱逐出去。
• The leaders have been ousted from power by nationalists.这些领导人被民族主义者赶下了台。

8 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。