This plan should include a pilot project aimed at turning the illicit production of the narcotic into legal analgesics.

The report also makes an appeal to do more to develop the poorest areas of the country, especially in those not yet producing opium on a large scale, by "carefully and selectively engaging in manual eradication".

In addition, the plan should urge the Central-Asian country to tackle corruption at the "highest levels" of its government, in particular the Ministry of the Interior.

Explaining its motives, the parliament said that "insurgents, warlords, the Taliban and terrorist groups are obtaining their major source of funding through trade in illicit narcotics", thereby endangering the fragile political stability and economic development of the country.

The report, drawn up by Italian liberal MEP Marco Cappato, was adopted by an overwhelming majority of 368 for and 49 against, and has been welcomed by the Senlis Council.

The Paris-based think-tank, which has been trying since 2005 to gain a foothold for the idea, believes that the US-led poppy crop eradication has been largely ineffective.

Furthermore, it is convinced that destroying poppy fields and yields could be counter-productive and give the Taliban a decisive advantage in the struggle for the hearts and minds of the Afghan people.

"By linking the country's two most valuable resources – poppy cultivation and strong local village control systems, the controlled cultivation of poppy for the local production of morphine can be secured," the think tank's Director of Policy Research, Jorrit Kamminga said.

Afghanistan supplies more than 90% of the world's opium, generating about €2.1 billion in revenues a year. The World Bank has estimated that about 40% of Afghanistan's economic activity is opium-related.