Ideas into movement
Boost TNI's work
50 years. Hundreds of social struggles. Countless ideas turned into movement.
Support us as we celebrate our 50th anniversary in 2024.
The Opium Farmers of Myanmar
Publication date:
The Fix - The most recent figures, released in 2014 by UNODC, show that poppy cultivation has more than doubled since 2006. A report by the Transnational Institute (TNI) sheds light on the reasons behind this increase.
“[UNODC] figures are, at best, guesstimates, and are not scientific data,” advises a report by the Transnational Institute (TNI), an international research and advocacy organization. “Before 1970 most men used opium recreationally,” says an elderly man from neighboring Kachin State interviewed in the TNI report. “Women and children did not use opium recreationally but 90% of the households did use opium as a medicine against diarrhea, fever or to treat gunshot wounds… It was a healthy drug.” However, now “Kachin State and northern Shan State in [Myanmar] are facing a heroin epidemic,” reads the TNI report. “With problematic injecting heroin use being widespread among young people.” They estimate there are currently 300,000 addicts in Myanmar.
Read the full article.
Credits
Published at
More like this
-
Bouncing Back Relapse in the Golden Triangle
Publication date:
-
Myanmar Opium Farmers' Forum report published today
Publication date: