KABUL – Opium production in Afghanistan hits record level.

In Afghanistan, religious scholars from Nangarhar issued a fatwa onSaturday against poppy cultivation and use of drugs, saying that these twoacts are forbidden in Islam.

Figures released by the Afghan Ministry of Counter Narcotics and UN Officeon Drugs and Crime in November 2017 show that opium production inAfghanistan increased by 87 percent to a record level of 9,000 metric tonsin 2017 compared with 2016 levels.