Drugs in South Asia: From the Opium Trade to the Present Day

The drug problem in South Asia is mounting. This work provides a hard-hitting view of the pro-revenue drug policies pursued by the British colonial authorities in South Asia. Dr. Haque tells the story of the US-led inaugural for controlling colonial opium trade during the early twentieth century. Drugs in South Asia explains why the ensuing governments in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh barely changed the remains of the British drug laws until the mid-1980s and examines the Indian resurgence in recent years in international drug trafficking. It offers a comprehensive overview of the Afghan crisis and the equivocation of the US, the biggest crusader against drug trade, that ignored the deflection of drug money to support the war in Afghanistan. The US-Pakistan Cold War compatibility has created a relentless environment on drugs from which no country in the region is immune. The dangers of drug trade in South Asia have now become global. Read more