BISHKEK. May 20 (Interfax-AVN) - Kyrgyz presidential candidate Zhenishbek Nazaraliyev, a doctor specializing on treating drug addicts, has proposed resuming the cultivation of opium poppy in the country for pharmacological purposes.
"Nature has not provided Kyrgyzstan with mineral resources, but this country is located in climatic conditions where opium has concentrated qualities, and so why don't we grow it for good medical purposes?" Nazaraliyev told Interfax on Wednesday.
The cultivation of raw opium in Kyrgyzstan was banned in the Soviet era in 1973. However, Nazaraliyev pointed out that India grows opium on 30,000 hectares of land at the UN's permission, and "this country holds a monopoly on manufacturing painkilling and resolving medications and makes billions on this."
Growing opium will enable Kyrgyzstan "to get $20 billion-$30 billion annually and so settle a lot of social problems," he said.
"There will be no harm from this. We are going to grow opium not on our own but will receive a license from the UN, which cannot be issued very simply. To get a UN license, we will have to comply with a number of serious conditions," he said.
Nazaraliyev dismissed concerns that, if Kyrgyzstan cultivates opium poppy, it "will turn into a second Afghanistan" and that drug addiction will grow in the country. To prevent this, Nazaraliyev suggested toughening the law regarding the acquisition, marketing, storage, and consumption of illegal drugs.