NCJ Number
204634
Date Published
June 2003
Length
52 pages
Annotation
This report presents the results of the 2003 opium survey conducted in the Shan State in the country of Myanmar.
Abstract
In Myanmar, the problem of opium and heroin production has deep historical roots reaching back to the 19th century. However, since the mid-1990's, the country has reported a decline of illicit opium poppy cultivation. This 2003 opium survey, supported by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) was implemented over the whole Shan State where most of the poppy cultivation in the Union of Myanmar occurs. The intent of the survey is to increase the government’s capacity to monitor illicit crops on their territories and assist the international community in monitoring the extent and evolution of illicit crops in the context of the elimination strategy. Results of the survey confirm a continuation in the decline of illicit opium poppy cultivation for 2003. In 2003, the decline in opium poppy cultivation was 24 percent. Since 1996, cultivation has declined by more than 100,000 ha or 62 percent. Additional survey findings indicate: (1) the largest cultivation decrease occurred in the Northern Shan State (-50 percent); (2) the total farmgate value of the 2003 opium production, based on an estimated harvest of about 810 metric tons of opium in Myanmar, amounted to around $105 million in United States currency; (3) the estimated 350,000 households who cultivated opium poppy in the Shan State for 2003 would earn an average of about $175 in United States currency from the sale of their individual opium harvest; and (4) the income from the sale of opium is by far the first source of cash for these families accounting for 70 percent of their total annual cash income. Tables and figures