In California, an influx of high-potency heroin from Afghanistan is being blamed for an increase in addiction and overdoses in Los Angeles. Heroin-related deaths have increased 75 percent in the past three years. Over nearly the same period, the share of Afghanistan heroin on the U.S. market has doubled to 14 percent. Thousands of Afghan farmers were forced to turn to poppy production following the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in 2001. A spokesperson for the Orange County Sheriff’s Department told the Los Angeles Times heroin from Afghanistan is the single biggest rising threat in the fight against narcotics.