The opium poppy that had long blossomed in picturesque profusion across the mountains of northern Laos and the Wa region of Myanmar has, in recent years of zealous drug eradication campaigns, become a rarer sight. But United Nations drug experts warn that poppy cultivation is resurgent in Myanmar and Laos, as poverty-stricken former poppy farmers face further pain amid the global economic crisis. The combination of events threatens substantial gains made in opium eradication since 2002 in the area known as the Golden Triangle. Leik Boonwaat, the chief UN representative in Vientiane, said: 'The price of opium has more than doubled in the past few years in Myanmar and Laos. Former opium farmers who already live in dire poverty are facing twin levers of increasing opium prices and falling commodity prices that may encourage them to resume poppy growing.' Laos, one of Asia's poorest countries, proudly proclaimed itself 'opium-free' in 2005 as a result of heavy pressure from western governments and the UN Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC), linking economic aid to the suppression of the poppy fields. The Wa region has had a ban on opium production since 2006. But, long before the global economic crisis hit Southeast Asia, impoverished farmers were growing increasingly angry about the opium ban. In the Wa region on the China-Myanmar border, they have been calling on authorities to allow a return to growing poppies, according to a report carried by the Shan News Agency. Hmong villagers in Laos' Xheng Khouang province have also complained bitterly to local authorities and want the opium ban lifted The wisdom and sustainability of UNODC's anti-opium strategy, which has removed the main livelihood and cash crop of hill-tribe farmers, has been consistently challenged by non-governmental organisations, development workers and academics. David Feingold, an anthropologist and expert on the Akha hill tribe, said: 'The opium eradication policy in Laos was both poorly conceived and poorly executed.' In order to eradicate production, more than 70,000 hill-tribespeople from 2,058 villages were uprooted and displaced from their mountain habitats in the north of the country to resettlement areas, where food and medicine are in short supply and there are few opportunities to make a living. Research by a French NGO found mortality rates of between 4 per cent and 8 per cent among the resettled hill tribes, the Akha and the Hmong. That level, they noted, was 'normally found only in war zones and areas of refugee resettlement'. Many NGOs and development specialists view the opium crackdown as a humanitarian crisis. Mr Boonwaat steadfastly rejected the criticism, saying: 'Many farmers are coping without opium. Many are getting about the same or more income from selling livestock or collecting more non-timber forest products than they used to when they cultivated opium.' But the prices for any of the alternative commodities to opium - tea, rubber or livestock - have all plunged while the opium price has soared. The UNODC' s research indicated that while 40 per cent of families were reported to be getting by with alternative crops, in other places villagers were desperate. In Ban Hai in Oudomxay province, it said, 'the villagers repeatedly expressed that they had become poorer as a result of opium elimination'. The Opium Survey 2008 report said 59 per cent needed food aid and international assistance. In the absence of viable alternative development projects, UNODC and the Laotian government turned to the World Food Programme (WFP) to provide emergency food aid for 1,100 villages that had been deprived of their main cash crop - opium. Neither the impoverished hill tribes nor WFP officials are convinced that opium eradication can be considered a success story. Christa Rader, the former WFP chief representative in Vientiane, said: 'We are not very happy with this situation. The WFP normally delivers food aid to victims of natural disasters. In this case it is clear that the emergency was a man-made, not a natural, disaster.' During a brief visit to Vientiane, WFP director James Morris reaffirmed that 'we provide aid only for humanitarian reasons, and do not want to be seen as facilitating resettlement policy' if opium eradication is a major part of it. Ms Rader said: 'Food aid is no long-term solution. Massive development programmes would be required in order to assist the ex-opium cultivators to establish alternative livelihoods.' In the current economic climate, massive development is clearly not going to happen either in Laos or Myanmar. Thailand phased out opium cultivation over three decades of alternative development and crop substitution, in marked contrast to the rapid eradication programme attempted by its two neighbours. 'What is for sure,' said one aid worker based in Vientiane who prefers to remain anonymous, 'is that the programme was focusing on eradication more than finding alternatives to opium. They pushed for opium elimination before economic development was in place, so they put the cart before the horse.' In theory, rubber is the one crop that could match opium, but it takes seven years of hard work and investment, and poor farmers have neither the income nor the savings to benefit from rubber. But the price of rubber has just fallen by 50 per cent, whereas opium has reached an all-time high of more than HK$1,300 a kilogram on the streets of Vientiane. The authorities in Laos today have no doubt that opium is very far from being their biggest drug concern. In recent years an amphetamine known locally as ya baa has rapidly spread from Thailand and Myanmar. Already the country has an estimated 40,000 addicts, and authorities are scrambling to cope with the epidemic of social problems. Even back in 2003, many people thought opium eradication was a misplaced priority. A former Australian ambassador in Laos, Jonathan Thwaites, expressed misgivings about the opium crackdown. In an interview in Vientiane that year, he said the surge in amphetamine use was far more dangerous than opium. 'We [western embassies] have put too much emphasis on opium eradication, but amphetamines are a much worse problem and they should be the priority.' Many Laotians, including some provincial governors and Communist Party cadres, have also expressed doubts about the anti-opium drive. Houmpanh Rattanavong, a Laotian environment and culture specialist, explained: 'Opium has many uses - as a major cash crop, for medicine and in traditional ceremonies and festive events. 'Resettlement has caused the disruption of the hill tribes' way of life,' he warned. 'Now it is the lack of opium that is far more dangerous. 'The shortage of opium has led to more people consuming more heroin and ya baa pills, with far worse consequences for society, including increased risks of spreading HIV from injecting drug users,' he said. If, as seems likely, thousands of villagers resume opium cultivation, it would make little difference to the international heroin trade, Dr Feingold said. 'Laos was only small fry in the world of heroin,' he said. 'We are mostly dealing with opium. The best policy would be one of benign neglect: let the people grow what they need for medical use.' The UNODC admits that 50 per cent of the opium grown in Laos was consumed domestically - much of it used in the treatment for pain, stomach problems and malaria. Myanmar is the second-biggest producer of opium in the world, but its crop is dwarfed by Afghanistan's massive output. Given the many negative impacts of opium eradication and its lack of sustainability, some development specialists argue for an entirely different approach. If you cannot eradicate opium poppies, why not transform them into an economic asset by legalising the crop for pharmaceutical purposes? Is there any medical need for more opium to be grown legally? The UN's World Health Organisation reports that 80 per cent of the world's population consumes just 6 per cent of its morphine - the No 1 opiate for severe pain - an imbalance that highlights the appalling dearth of painkilling drugs in many parts of the world. Emma Bonino, a former European Union commissioner, has drawn attention to this problem. 'The UN estimates that there are 45 million people living with HIV/Aids in countries where health systems are either absent or very poor, and that over the next 20 years there will be some 10 million new cases of cancer in the developing world,' she told an EU conference. Eighteen countries, including India, Turkey, Australia, France and Spain, are part of the legitimate-opium cultivation club, with the approval of the International Narcotics Control Board in Vienna. One researcher on Laos said: 'If the farmers of Tasmania get a benefit from opium, why not our poor farmers, too? Laos should be allowed to grow it legally under international supervision. 'GlaxoSmithKline is among the drug companies that buy opium from Tasmania, bringing substantial benefits to the local economy.' Felicity Volk, a former Australian diplomat, acknowledged that there was an absence of rational debate over narcotic drug policies. 'Anyone who advocates a new field of legalisation, even if it is for medicinal purposes, there is a strong mindset against it. This is an issue which brings a lot of emotional baggage with it.' Unless western governments are prepared to provide massive funding for alternative crops and rural development - and it is clear they are not, critics argue - many see a case for western governments opening up the field of legitimate opium to the poor farmers of Laos and elsewhere? Traditional uses Opium has many uses - as a major cash crop, for medicine and in festive and traditional events The percentage of Laos' opium that was consumed domestically, mainly as medication, according to the UN Office of Drugs and Crime: 50%
