| Burma
continues to be the main opium producer in Southeast
Asia and the second largest opium producer in the world.
Burma is also the top producer of amphetamine type stimulants
in Southeast Asia. Amphetamines production and trafficking
has allowed the SPDC to reduce the amount of land in
opium production in response to international pressure
but to still have a significant source of revenue that
is less politicized than heroin. |
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Burma accounted for 21% of the world’s opium
production in 2005. |
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Opium addiction was reported to affect 0.57% of
the adult population in Burma in 2005, with 1.74%
of the population in opium-growing villages and
0.28% in non-opium growing villages. |
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In 2004, Burma produced approximately 700 million
amphetamine tablets - about 7.5% of total global
manufacture. |
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Through its numerous
ceasefire agreements the SPDC has allowed ethnic armed
groups such as the United Wa State Army (UWSA) and
the National Democracy Alliance Army (NDAA) to freely
engage in narcotics production and trafficking.
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SPDC officials regularly accept bribes from groups such
as the UWSA as payment for safe transport of their drugs
inside of Burma, making the SPDC complicit in the continued
production and trafficking of amphetamines. There are
also accounts of SPDC Army officers planting opium poppies
to supplant their salaries. |
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To date, the SPDC has not prosecuted or extradited any
of Burma’s biggest drug lords. Through laundering
of drug profits, the former dug lords appease the junta
by funding its mining industry, overseeing much of its
agricultural sector, operating its chief national banks,
and running other private businesses. |
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| Most of the heroin
and amphetamines produced in Burma is trafficked overland
or is shipped along the Mekong River. Amphetamines produced
in Burma have been documented flowing to China, Thailand,
India, Laos, and Bangladesh, every country that borders
Burma. |
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In Burma, 26-30% of officially reported HIV cases
are linked to intravenous drug use, one of the worst
rates in the world. In 2003, 50 and 85% of intravenous
drug users in Rangoon and Mandalay tested for HIV
were positive. Infection rates remain highest in Burma’s
northern and eastern ethnic regions where opium, heroin,
and amphetamines are most readily available. |
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In China, the number of known drug addicts increased
35% from 2000 to 1.2 million by early 2005. China’s
HIV/AIDS epidemic had its origins in cities in Yunnan
Province that border Burma. HIV was originally transmitted
by injecting drug users and attributable to the illegal
drugs coming to China from Burma. As of 2003, the
proportion of reported HIV among injecting drug users
was 44%. In some areas the prevalence rises above
80%. Yunnan Province has the highest HIV prevalence
zone in China. The drug problem also jeopardizes public
security because of drug-related crimes. |
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In India, there is a direct correlation between the
proximity to the Burma border and drug abuse. In addition,
injecting drug users represent a significant incubus
for the indirect spread of HIV to people who have
never used drugs.' India's northeast - Assam, Manipur,
Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim
and Tripura - has been declared as one of the country's
high-risk zones with close to 100,000 people infected
with HIV. |
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In Thailand, more than 10,000 methamphetamine psychotic
patients sought treatment during 2002 and in many
hospitals 30-50% of the patients admitted were for
treatment of methamphetamine use. In 2006, drug officials
in Thailand projected that the costs of rehabilitative
services for 20,000 drug addicts would be 100 million
baht (US $2.5 million). |
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