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This fact brief was originally published as an experiment to test the concepts behind fact briefs.
Readers should be aware that while there is still a lot of useful information in fact briefs like this one, not all of them reflect Gigafact's current methods and standards for fact briefs. If you come across any that you feel are out of date, don't hesitate to contact us at support@gigafact.org.
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FACT BRIEF

Do US pharmaceutical companies source opium from Afghanistan?

By Jacob Alabab-Moser
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NO

Afghanistan is the world's largest producer of heroin, but its opium output is not internationally licensed for legal medicinal use. The world's largest producer of thebaine and other poppy extracts used in legal opiates is Tasmania, the island state off Australia's southern coast. The U.S. buys 80% of its morphine from Turkey and India. France, Hungary and Spain are also global producers in the legal trade, supervised under a 1961 U.N. treaty.

A 2020 White House report says "heroin originating from Afghanistan is not a driving force of the U.S. opioid epidemic." Afghan opium trades illegally at much higher prices, but little reaches the Americas. According to the Drug Enforcement Administration, most illegal heroin in the U.S. comes from Mexico or Colombia.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
Sources
UN Office on Drugs and Crime: Afghanistan opium survey, 2018
ABC (Australia): Tasmania poppy farmers in crosshairs of US opioid crisis
International Narcotics Control Board: Narcotic drugs
US Institute of Peace: Licensing Afghan opium for medicinal use won't work
White House: Poppy cultivation and potential opium production in Afghanistan
DEA: 2020 National Drug Threat Assessment
ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTOR
Gigafact
Between 2020 and 2022, under close editorial supervision, Gigafact contracted a group of freelance writers and editors to test the concepts for fact briefs and provide inputs to our software development process. We call this effort Gigafact Foundry. Over the course of these two years, Gigafact Foundry writers published over 1500 fact briefs in response to claims they found online. Their important work forms the basis of Gigafact formats and editorial guidelines, and is available to the public on Gigafact.org. Readers should be aware that while there is still a lot of relevant information to be found, not all fact briefs produced by Gigafact Foundry reflect Gigafact's current methods and standards for fact briefs. If you come across any that you feel are out of date and need to be looked at with fresh eyes, don't hesitate to contact us at support@gigafact.org.
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About fact briefs published on Gigafact
Fact briefs are short, credibly sourced summaries that offer “yes/no” answers in response to claims found online. They rely on publicly available, often primary source data and documents. Fact briefs are created by contributors to Gigafact —a nonprofit project looking to expand participation in fact-checking and protect the democratic process. See all fact briefs here.