The Taliban’s bans on opium cultivation and ephedra processing are eliminating vital cash income for impoverished rural families amid Afghanistan’s economic collapse, without clear evidence that drug availability or addiction has fallen. Farmers, dealers, and analysts report that Taliban members continue to control or profit from parts of the trade, while addicts face violent arrests and severely abusive rehabilitation conditions. The policy may be intended to secure international legitimacy and humanitarian aid, but the lack of viable agricultural alternatives or income support risks starvation, alienating Taliban supporters, increasing corruption, and destabilizing the regime. A sustained reduction in heroin supply could also encourage synthetic-drug production and worsen overdose risks in Afghanistan and international markets.

A reportage from Kabul by Ilario Piagnerelli and Andrea Vaccarella concerns the Taliban’s pursuit of people with drug addictions in Afghanistan.