NCJ Number
229061
Date Published
December 2008
Length
126 pages
Annotation
Following an overview of regional opium poppy cultivation in South East Asia for 2008, this report presents results for the 2008 opium surveys for Laos, Myanmar, and Thailand.
Abstract
The 2008 South East Asia Opium Survey indicates that this region, which was once called heroin's "Golden Triangle," has a limited opium problem found in only one region, Myanmar. Myanmar is the world's second largest source of opium, accounting for 28,500 hectares in 2008 (a 3-percent increase over last year). The Myanmar region accounts for 424 tons of opium, compared to 472 tons a year earlier. This amounts to approximately 5 percent of the world's total illicit opium output, compared to the region's 33-percent contribution in 1998 and 50-percent proportion in 1990. There were significant increases in the eradication of opium cultivation lands in Myanmar in 2008. In eliminating 4,820 hectares, Myanmar eradicated almost as much opium-cultivation land as Afghanistan (5,480 ha), even though Afghanistan had 5 times more land under opium cultivation. Thailand and the Lao Peoples Democratic Republic (PDR) are almost opium free. The eradication of poverty in the region is critical, since many of the opium farmers in South East Asia are poor. Rising opium prices may make it more attractive for farmers to go back to opium cultivation when no alternative income sources exist. This means that economic development in South East Asia should have high priority, so as to ensure that even Laos and Thailand, where significant progress in opium-cultivation has occurred in the past 5 years, do not revert back to opium cultivation. Drug use among residents of the region remains a problem, particularly in opium-growing communities. The reported surveys are part of the United Nations Office for Drugs and Crime's (UNODC's) global illicit crop-monitoring program. Extensive tables, figures, and maps