The U.S. has announced a new drug policy for opium-rich Afghanistan, saying it was phasing out funding for eradication efforts and using it for drug interdiction and alternate crop programs instead. The U.S. envoy for Afghanistan, Richard Holbrooke, has told The Associated Press that eradication programs were a waste of money and were only driving farmers into the hands of the Taliban. Holbrooke announced the new policy Saturday at a Group of Eight foreign ministers' meeting on Afghanistan, where he said it had been warmly received, particularly by the United Nations. Afghanistan cultivates 93 percent of the world's opium.
