The 2001 Asian illicit opium crop declined 77 percent to hit its lowest levels since estimates began in the mid-1980's. Much of this decline was due to the Taliban's ban on poppy cultivation in Afghanistan, which had been the world's leader in opium production since 1998. Burma saw a fourth straight year of decline in the poppy crop due to bad weather; however, it regained its position as the world's largest producer because of the effectiveness of the Taliban's poppy ban in Afghanistan. Within 6 months of the Taliban's announcement of the ban, opium prices increased at least 10 percent in Afghanistan, but the production and trafficking of drugs continued because of opium stockpiled from previous years' crops. Opium prices in Southeast Asia did not reflect the increases in Southwest Asia. If poppy cultivation remains low in Afghanistan and opium shortages develop in the coming years, other growers in the area may attempt to fill the gap in opium supply. The Central Asian republics, which formerly composed the major poppy-growing areas of the Soviet Union, are the most likely areas to see a crop increase. In Southeast Asia, weather will continue to be the determining factor in the crop size. Since Burma's farmers have few, if any, financially comparable alternatives to poppy cultivation, it will remain the cash crop of choice in the region. Extensive figures and tables