NCJ Number
206469
Date Published
July 2004
Length
36 pages
Annotation
This report presents data from the 2004 nationwide survey of opium poppy cultivation in Laos, a survey sponsored by the Lao National Commission for Drug Control and Supervision and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.
Abstract
The survey encompassed an area of 1,039 square kilometers across 11 Provinces of Northern Laos. From January 15 to March 30, 2004, 120 surveyors conducted the survey. Surveyors conducted interviews with village headmen and heads of households; field measurements were conducted as well. The survey involved 388 villages and 559 field sites. The area planted and production of opium poppy was estimated by integrating the ground survey data with the analysis of satellite images of poppy fields. The total area under opium poppy cultivation in Laos for the 2004 season is estimated to be 6,600 hectares (1 hectare is 2.47 acres), a 45-percent decrease compared to the 2003 estimate of 12,000 hectares. The survey estimated that 22,800 households were involved in opium cultivation, 5 percent of the households in the Northern Provinces of Laos. The average national opium yield potential for 2004 was estimated at 6.5 kilograms per hectare, a 34-percent reduction from 2003. The average farm gate price of opium was estimated at 2,280,000 KIP per kilogram (US$ 218), a 27-percent increase compared with the price of the previous season. This increase reflects the scarcity of opium produced during this season. The average cash income of an opium-producing household was estimated at US$ 371; this is 94 percent of the average income of non-opium-producing households. Opium production and trade contributes to only 12 percent of the total income of the producer, suggesting that opium is linked to more marginal economic conditions. Daily opium addiction existed in 60 percent of the villages surveyed, with the average addiction prevalence rate amounting to almost 3 percent of the population ages 15 and above. 20 tables, 13 figures, and 8 maps