Negative Externalities in Russia; Blame Nato and the Taliban

According to this BBC article, Russia is upset with the current state of drug production in Afghanistan. Over the past few years, there has been an offensive that was meant to destroy poppy fields in Afghanistan. However, Obama recently ended the drive, claiming that it alienates the opium farmers and drives them to support the Taliban.

This Guy: IS DESTROYING RUSSIA

The selfish decisions of the United States have caused dismal damage to Russia’s good people. The Right Honorable Victor Ivanov, head of Russia’s federal drug control agency, has blamed Nato for being unable to hinder the production of heroin in Afghanistan. Ivanov reported that at least 30,000 people die in Russia each year from heroin. 90% of this heroin is from Afghanistan. He further criticized Nato for leaving poppy fields and virtually guaranteeing immunity for drug producers. This has led to the black market transfer of cheap heroin to Russia. Ivanov further states that drug production in Afghanistan is now a global destabilizing factor. However, seeing that the trade of such drugs are illegal as it is, it is difficult for the government to regulate. They cannot tax the drugs and have already attempted illegalizing them. The options to combat the problem are limited. For the time being, there is welfare loss and negative externalities of production due to the drugs. People overdose and commit felonies when under the influence, among other notable spill over effects on the general good of Russia. If the government could do anything, they should attempt to better equalize the marginal private benefit with the marginal social benefit. The graph below illustrates this.