Opium Update

Apparently land being used to cultivate opium in Afghanistan has declined by twenty-one percent. That's good.

My question, and perhaps someone knows the answer, is this: if opium is used for drugs like morphine, why don't the Western nations help the Afghans turn opium into a cash crop? If these supplies of opium could be redirected toward legitimate pharmaceutical development, it would be a huge victory for Afghanistan.

Anybody know?