To kill or not to kill the Afghan opium trade?

https://www.vice.com/en/articl...problem-for-the-west

My first thought was "*just kill it, opioid is bad and the Afghan opium trade funds the Taliban.*" But now even the Taliban is asking for help to eliminate the opium economy, the Western governments (including the USA) are having two minds about it, because:

1. Lack of cheap opium from Afghanistan would lead the Mexican cartels to replace it with fentanyl, an arguably worse drug that can lead to even more opioid deaths.
2. A sudden collapse of the opium trade in Afghanistan can trigger civil war and create another humanitarian crisis and "migration calamity," causing regional instability.

What say you?

I have no clue, but thanks for asking.

Is the opium sold within Afganistan? If not, where?

I wonder how much Afghan opium is actually making its way here as heroin these days anyway. It's widely used in those countries. All my Iranian friends had lots of it around, but it was in a less processed form, and only edible.