In Afghanistan, the wild ephedra shrub breathes new life into country's meth epidemic

Once the ephedra lands in these district centers, often outside areas of Afghan government control, it is milled to a fine powder and sold in bulk quantities at open-air markets that have sprung up with the express purpose of providing supplies to local meth-producers. Although the effects of ephedra harvesting in Afghanistan are still difficult to gauge, Mansfield suggested that in terms of scale and value “it is quite possible for the ephedra and meth industry to equal that of the opium and heroin economy.” The opium and heroin trade in Afghanistan is worth as much as $6.6 billion per year, according to a 2018 report from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. Afghanistan legally imports 100 pounds of pure ephedrine and 600 pounds of pseudoephedrine annually according to the UNODC, although a 2017 report noted that “it is possible that in addition to the government quotas, larger quantities are being brought into the country across uncontrolled border crossings.” Unlike the US and the European Union — both of which began regulating sales of ephedrine-containing medications in the mid-2000s due to their common use in the manufacture of crystal meth — Afghanistan has no laws governing the import or sale of such medications. The first officially documented seizure of crystal meth in Afghanistan occurred in 2014, according to the UNODC, although Raithelhuber says that here, too, available data is likely misleading: “We can’t exclude the possibility that methamphetamine was seized even before 2014 but misclassified, as not every shipment seized was necessarily tested for in a laboratory.” [imgcenter> [/imgcenter> In downtown Kabul, meth pipes are crafted out of repurposed medical vials. According to the UNODC’s 2017 Afghanistan Synthetic Drugs Situation Assessment, “overall, the issue of methamphetamine trafficking has hardly been present in the national drug discussion.” [imgcenter> [/imgcenter> Above photo: Staff from a local, non-governmental organization provide medical care to people with methamphetamine addiction in Kabul.