New report from SHAN questions drug policies in Burma

No.12 - 6/2007
26 June 2007
Drugs
 
New report from SHAN questions drug policies in Burma
 
To mark the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, SHAN is today launching a new publication, the Shan Drug Watch newsletter, which contains articles exposing continuing widespread poppy-growing in Shan State in areas under Burma Army control and critiquing current drug policies in Burma.
 
One of the main articles in the newsletter paints a grim picture of the situation in the northern Wa region two years after an opium ban was imposed by Wa authorities, describing how starving ex-poppy farmers are being forced to migrate, causing growing social problems.
 
Other articles challenge the data in the UNODC's October 2006 report on opium cultivation in Burma, showing how so-called "poppy-free" townships are still growing poppies, and that poppy cultivation thrives in areas under government control.
 
"For too long, the debate about drug policy in Burma has been governed by the generals and UNODC officials," states SHAN in the editorial to the newsletter. "We want the broader public, at home and abroad, to become involved in the debate, and start raising questions about policies that are not only failing to eradicate drugs in Burma, but are having devastating humanitarian impacts on communities on the ground."
 
The newsletter can be viewed at www.shanland.org