``Yes, Virginia, You Can Eradicate the Queen's Opium'': The Case of Myanmar

April 10 (LPAC)—The government of Myanmar, which is under sanctions by the United States since 1988, has been conducting a massive—and highly successful—effort to eradicate opium. According to the UN Office of Drug Control's 2009 World Drug Report, Myanmar has reduced opium production from 105,000 hectares in 2001 to 28,500 hectares in 2008. During the same time, the opium production has gone from 1,097 metric tons in 2001 (the highest level ever produced in Myanmar) to 410 metric tons or less per year in 2005-8.

One main reason for the success is recognizing that the fight against the opium is the fight against the British Empire. Look at the Preface from Myanmar's 2008 report, "Endeavors of Myanmar for Elimination of Narcotic Drugs":

"If we are to talk about narcotic drugs, we cannot exclude [that] opium, the major source of sedative drugs (opiates), was not cultivated and produced in Myanmar until the 19th century, when the whole of Myanmar was annexed by the British. The British government permitted opium-poppy to be cultivated legally in the Shan State and in the mountainous regions of the Kachin State. [It] Allowed the opening of opium dens under liscence and smoking of opium after being registered. The British government itself transported and traded opium and revenue was collective from the opium business. Starting from that time, the evil habit of cultivating opium poppy and smoking of opium took root."

The Preface further explains that after Myanmar got independence in 1948, the evil habit of cultivating poppy continued in mountainous areas where "the British had practiced 'Divide and Rule' policy" and encouraged insurgency and separatism among the different nationalities within Myanmar. For decades the opium production has been the greatest in the Shan and Kachin states of Myanmar, where the British developed it.

According to well-informed experts, since 2000, the Myanmar government has taken a top down approach to not only eradicate opium fields, largely through long term crop substitution, but to prioritize the economic and social development of the outlying areas, to unify the country and end the backwardness brought by colonialism.

In 2000, a 15 year plan was developed to eliminate all opium production by 2014. Farmers began to turn in their opium seed on a mass scale, and at the same time received money, substitute seed, and in some cases, guaranteed markets for the replacement crops. But even more important the Myanmar government attempted to immediately bring in three things to these outlying areas: electricity, roads, and literacy through building of schools to bring the country out of poverty. It has been a huge rural electrification project — of the type carried out by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in the 1930s.

International cooperation has been key to success, especially with neighbors, China and Thailand; and Myanmar has Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) on fighting drugs with China, Thailand, India and Russia. "The scourge of narcotics drugs is threatening the whole world," says the Myanmar government report, and "because of narcotic drugs, the prestige and human resources of a country can be ruined."

The fight is not finished. Warlords in the opium areas had to put down their weapons, and end cultivation of opium as part of the effort to unify the country, but in some areas, eradication has not been carried out. Meanwhile, a new problem—amphetamine production and traffic has emerged. One knowledgeable source pointed out amphetamine labs are even harder to fight—they are small, mobile, and can be put anywhere.