More Drugs, Fewer Narcs

Though the global drug trade is heating up, expect a lighter U.S. enforcement presence on the streets. The White House's Office of National Drug Control Policy estimates that opium production in Afghanistan, which not only provides 90% of the heroin consumed globally but also funds Taliban activities, rose 61% last year over 2005. Some 670 tons of heroin are expected to flood the market, and that should slash the street price of a kilo of Southwest Asian heroin, now about $90,000 in Los Angeles. Yet the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), which annually loses some 3% of its 5,000 agents to attrition, has a two-year hiring freeze because of budget cuts to U.S. programs. DEA bean counters say they would need an additional $12 million to maintain current agent levels. The DEA's overseas funding has increased, but overall, DEA chief financial officer Frank Kalder admits, "there will be less drug enforcement going on. There's no getting around that."

General James Jones, who worked in Afghanistan, calls the cuts "astounding." But other experts think it's wasteful to crack down on drug dealers without reducing drug use. In other words, manage both sides of the problem. Narcs or not, the new crop hits streets this spring.