opium trade

Chronicles the history of the opium drug and discusses how it has affected the world's cultures and economies, why it is still widely used, and how religious authorities react to the use of the drug.

Joel Hafvenstein recounts the year he spent running an American-funded aid program in Afghanistan's Helmand Province, where he found himself trying to help the region's opium farmers make a legal living while helping them forget the former Taliban government, describing how he became caught up in a deadly drug war, dodging bandits in police uniforms and coping with the struggles Afghans live with every day of their lives.