East Meets West

This chapter examines the role of western tourists and hippies in globalizing Afghanistan’s illicit drug trade. Throughout the 1960s, thousands of westerners flocked to Afghanistan to buy and consume hash. This chapter shows that by the 1970s the growing demand for hashish in western markets led to a greater influx of drug traffickers in Afghanistan. Afghanistan was ideal for those involved in the illicit drug trade, because of its cheap and abundant supply, as well as the lax or ineffective enforcement of drug laws. Ultimately, this chapter demonstrates that the hash trade was critical in building the global trafficking networks that would later link western demand for opium and heroin with producers and traders in Afghanistan.