Withdrawal Symptoms in the Golden Triangle

Withdrawal Symptoms in the Golden Triangle
A Drugs Market in Disarray

Drug control agencies have called the significant decline in opium production in Southeast Asia over the past decade a 'success story'. The latest report of the Transnational Institute (TNI). based on in-depth research in the region, casts serious doubts on this claim noting that Southeast Asia suffers from a variety of 'withdrawal symptoms' that leave little reason for optimism.

TNI's report shows that the rapid decline in production has caused major suffering among former poppy-growing communities in Burma and Laos, and poses serious questions about the sustainability of the opium bans in those countries. The report also notes that the decline in opium has been accompanied by a rise in the use of other drugs with an increase in health risks among consumers, including rising HIV/AIDS rates.

"The Southeast Asian drug market is going through a process of profound transformation," says Tom Kramer, TNI's Southeast Asia expert. "The enforcement of opium bans in the Golden Triangle has driven hundreds of thousands of families deeper into poverty." Early warning signs show that opium cultivation in Burma and Laos is again on the increase and is spreading to previously unaffected areas in Burma.

Meanwhile, production and consumption of Amphetamine Type Stimulants (ATS) - methamphetamine in particular - have increased even more rapidly than opium has gone down. "The traditional opium growing and consuming region has now evolved into a complex and dynamic market of opiates, ATS and pharmaceutical replacements," Kramer concludes.

Contents

• Introduction
• The Making of the Golden Triangle
• The Opium Decline: Figures, Facts & Fiction 
• Poppies and Poverty: The Sustainabilty of Decline
• Changing Market: Opium & Heroin
• The ATS Boom in Southeast Asia
• Coping Strategies: Drugs and Medicines
• Harm Reduction and Law Enforcement
• Conclusions & Recommendations
• Footnoes
• Bibliography
• Abbreviations & Glossary

All these reports can be downloaded for free on TNI's website.

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