Russia: US Fight Against Afghan Drugs Insufficient

Russia's drug czar says U.S. and NATO anti-narcotics actions in Afghanistan are woefully insufficient and is calling for joint U.S.-Russian action against the Afghan heroin flooding into the former Soviet Union.

Viktor Ivanov says he urged the U.S. administration during a trip to Washington to spray herbicides from the air to eradicate opium fields in Afghanistan.

President Barack Obama's administration has abandoned the Bush-era policy of large-scale drug eradication in Afghanistan, fearing it would boost support for the Taliban. The U.S. instead has focused on encouraging alternative crops.

But Ivanov told The Associated Press Wednesday that wouldn't work amid rising hostilities. He said spraying was essential for stemming the drug trade.