Land use for the illicit cultivation of opium hit a new high last year, with fields expanding by more than one-third in Afghanistan alone, the United Nations said today. In its annual World Drug Report, the UN says that Afghanistan accounted for up to 80 percent of the worlds opium production in 2013, a major setback after seeing a production dip in the country during the late 2000s. Global land use for cultivation is now at over 733,000 acres — not much smaller than the entirety of Rhode Island. The report also addresses the global availability and use of other illegal drugs.
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