UN : End in sight for opium crop

Laos no longer a significant provider

ALAN DAWSON

           For the first time in memory, the end of opium production is in sight in the entire Golden Triangle area, United Nations officials believe.Antonio Maria Costa, director of the UN Office of Drug and Crime (UNODC), says in a report on Laos' anti-drug campaign that the only barrier to the end of the opium trade within a few years is a lack of alternative crops for farmers, as in Thailand. ``I believe that the whole region, namely what used to be called the Golden Triangle area, is heading toward an opium-free status within the next few years,'' said the Undoc chief in a detailed survey of the current Laos' opium crop and drug scene. His report, published by the United Nations and entitled Laos Opium Survey 2004, said opium production in Laos has fallen 75% since 1998.Under a strong new government programme to force farmers in northern Laos to stop growing opium, poppy acreage has almost halved, from 12,000 hectares in 2003 to 6,600 hectares during the most recent harvest last February.
          A report on Burma is due this month or early in September. Undoc has been tight-lipped but diplomatic sources said it will likely mirror the Laos report, and add to the optimism that Southeast Asian production of opium and heroin is on its last legs. Last year, Undoc found opium production fell by 24% in Burma compared with 2002. Mr Costa praised the Vientiane government's will and effectiveness.The anti-drug campaign ``has been a remarkable success,'' he said.`` It shows the commitment of the government and society at large.''The report stresses the increasing importance of Afghanistan to international drug trafficking.Opium and heroin smuggling continues out of the Burmese part of the Golden Triangle, but Mr Costa said he believes Laos has joined Thailand on the sidelines of the world drug trade.``Considering the amount of domestic consumption [of opium] _ still important as this survey shows _ this means that the country is probably no longer a significant supplier to the world market for illicit opiates,
          '' Mr Costa concluded.Opium farming was introduced in the Golden Triangle around 1850, and for a century and a half production and smuggling has generally increased.
         In the 1970s, Thailand began a programme that eliminated most opium growing in less than 20 years, a success attributed mainly to a programme that provided new, more profitable crops and markets for farmers.Production in Laos peaked in 1998 with 26,800 tonnes of opium harvested, and production has fallen each year since. Vientiane officials announced two years ago that they expected to eradicate opium growing by 2006.
        There was widespread scepticism based on a number of factors, from doubts about the government's will to its ability to police the mainly hilltribe farmers of remote northern regions where poppies dominate the economy of the highlands.
Experts say the chances of eliminating opium depend almost entirely on getting crop substitution programmes in place in both Laos and Burma. Otherwise, farmers will go to ground to start up or continue their opium plantations, they say.
        Mr Costa's report notes that the average income of a Lao opium farmer is 2,570 baht a year, compared with the national average of 12,800 baht. So far, said the Italian head of UNODC, ``opium elimination has been achieved without farmers having the opportunity to develop other sources of income''.But he fears that without help, the efforts of the Lao government to force farmers to get out of drug production will falter.``The donor community must match this achievement by helping Laos to provide poor farmers, who are now giving up their income from opium, with sustainable alternative sources of livelihood,'' said Mr Costa. ``Not enough has been done so far in this respect.''Sanong Chinnanon, based in Bangkok as coordinator of the Undoc Alternative Development Cooperation in East Asia project, dispenses the small amount of aid available to develop alternative crops.  In a recent interview with the Vientiane Times, he was concerned that farmers who gave up opium farming turned to making methamphetamines, the yaa ba that is the greatest drug threat inside the Golden Triangle nations.

news courtecy of Bangkok Post

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