IN AFGHAN FIELDS THE POPPIES GROW,BETWEEN THE CROSSES,ROW ON ROW : What our children are DYING for in AFGHANISTAN | The reason why the Taliban were removed by the US.Opium production in Afghanistan,has increased 35-fold since the U.S.-led invasion, from 185 tons in 2001 to 6,400 last year, data maintained by the United Nations shows : According to the U.N., the total area under opium poppy cultivation reached a historic high in 2014. It increased 28-fold, from an estimated 8,000 hectares (about 31 square miles) in 2001 to an all time high of 224,000 hectares (about 865 square miles) last year.

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