But eradication and alternative livelihood projects mainly affect the lowest end of the value-added chain, the farmers, with no real impact on those higher up, such as large landowners and local traffickers, not to mention the extremely powerful drug lords and the international cartels and mafias. Most landless farmers find it difficult to switch to different crops, being caught up as they are in the illegal opium-denominated market, which forces them to live at the mercy of the drug traffickers, who provide them with access to credit and market outlets.
当前的国际反毒品政策受到立竿见影的压力驱动。但是，清除以及替代型生计项目影响的主要是增值链条中的最底端，也就是农民。对位于高端的人，例如大地主和当地毒贩并无实际影响，更不用说呼风唤雨的大毒枭以及国际卡特尔和黑社会。毒贩向大多数无地的农民提供信贷和市场销路。农民们处于由鸦片统揽一切的非法市场，迫使他们靠毒贩的怜悯苟活，因此转到不同的作物困难重重。