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Burma narrows gap with Afghanistan as leading opium producer

Irrawaddy - June 24, 2011

Sai Zom Hseng – Burma's share of world opium production increased from five percent in 2007 to 12 percent last year, according to a new report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes (UNODC) that named the Southeast Asian country the world's second largest producer of opium after Afghanistan.

In its World Drug Report 2011, an annual global survey of drug use and production, UNODC said that opium poppy cultivation increased by five percent last year to 195,700 hectares, with Afghanistan accounting for around 123,000 hectares of this total.

However, "the main driver behind the global increase" was Burma, the report said, noting that the country increased its area under cultivation from 31,700 hectares in 2009 to 38,000 hectares in 2010, while cultivation in Afghanistan has remained stable.

A map shows the increase in opium poppy cultivation in northern Burma from 2006 to 2010. (Source: UNODC, World Drug Report 2011) The report also notes that while "Afghan opium production declined over the 2007-2010 period" – partly due to a plant disease that devastated last year's crop – "production in Myanmar [Burma] increased."

While the total area under cultivation in Burma grew by 20 percent, the farm-gate value of the crop rose by 68 percent, from US $105 million in 2009 to $177 million in 2010, the report said.

The number of households involved in opium poppy cultivation in Burma has also increased, from 192,000 in 2009 to 224,000 in 2010. Shan State accounts for most of the country's poppy cultivation, with around 40 of the state's 50 townships involved in growing the crop.

Although Burma is still a long way from catching up with Afghanistan as the world's leading opium producer, its contribution to the world's drug problems is also bolstered by its position as the largest producer of amphetamine-type stimulants in Southeast Asia. According to the report, heroin and methamphetamine are the two most common substances being injected in East and Southeast Asia.

One consequence of the growing popularity of intravenous drug use is the spread of infectious diseases, including HIV/AIDS and hepatitis C. The report says that 80 percent of needle-using drug addicts in Burma, Indonesia and Hong Kong have been exposed to the hepatitis C virus.

According to Khuensai Jaiyen, the editor-in-chief of the Shan Herald Agency for News and a researcher for the Shan Drug Watch newsletter, the increase in opium production in Burma is caused by a number of factors, from weather conditions to continuing political and economic instability in the country and a growing military presence in affected areas.

"There are about 160 army battalions based in Shan State. The soldiers don't receive enough pay, so they are easily bribed by local people who want to grow poppies," he said.

He added that while some ethnic ceasefire groups also play a role in the drug business, they were most active when they were on good terms with the government, which turned a blind eye to illicit activities when both sides benefited.

"Now that the ceasefire groups are not cooperating with the government, the government is trying to cut off a source of revenue and using the drug issue against them," said Khuensai Jaiyen.

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