We could probably buy the opium directly from the farmers and then just burn it, paying a higher price than the Taliban and drug lords are willing to pay, and still come out ahead by all the money we'd save not paying for the war on drugs and the crime and destruction caused by dope on our streets. It would also be a way of introducing financial aid into the Afghan economy while bypassing the corruption of their government. If that doesn't work, we could refine it ourselves into clean, unadulterated heroin and give it away for free to those willing to enter drug programs, thereby putting the dealers out of business. The distribution of dope is where all the money is, the farmers don't get squat for it.

We do the same for our legitimate farmers in this country, it's called farm subsidies. Hey, we might even be able to make ethanol out of the poppy bulbs, I know they'll be cheaper and more energy efficient than corn from the midwest.