Pubdate: Wed, 13 Aug 2003
Source: China Daily (China)
Contact:   http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/911
Feedback: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/focus/letters/index.html
Author: Gui Hua

SEEDS OF HOPE 

Women's anti-drug task forces have been active in Yingjiang County
since 2002, during which time 1,449 of the county's 4,254 registered
addicts have attended rehabilitation sessions organized by the groups.
To date, 536 abusers have completely kicked the habit.

Nonetheless, the whole province of Yunnan, which shares a
2,184-kilometre border with Myanmar, is constantly confronted with the
spread of narcotics. In 2001, provincial law enforcement authorities
confiscated 8,731 kilograms of drugs, more than 70 per cent of all
drugs seized in China that year.

Over the past several years, drug dealers operating in the Golden
Triangle of Myanmar, Laos and Thailand have intensified their efforts
to smuggle narcotics into China via northern Myanmar.

The latest statistics from the National Narcotics Control Commission
show that the number of registered drug addicts in China reached one
million by the end of 2002, an 11 per cent rise over the previous
year. About 80 per cent of them were under the age of 35.

The statistics also reveal that heroin remains the narcotic of choice
among Chinese addicts, with 87.6 per cent of them taking the "white
killer", while more and more are beginning to try new drugs, such as
crystal methamphetamine and the amphetamine-based Ecstasy, known as
the "head-shaking pill" in China.

To prevent drugs from running rampant in China, attempts are being
made to cut off the flow of drugs into Yunnan through the gateway of
Myanmar.

The Chinese government and the Yunnan provincial government have
joined international efforts in the launch of an anti-drug project
that encourages the substitution of cash crops, such as rice, sugar
cane, rubber and tea, for opium poppy crops in the Golden Triangle.

The Green Anti-drug Project, jointly sponsored by the three countries,
is designed to help local people who have been growing poppies for
years to find new ways to earn a living.

Yunnan Province has allocated 300 million yuan (US$360,000) and
assigned 3,000 agricultural professionals to work with farmers in Laos
and Myanmar to implement the project.

To motivate farmer participation in the project, China is buying back
the crops harvested in Laos and Myanmar at prices equivalent to their
average domestic purchasing price.

The project has not only reduced the number of opium poppy fields in
the Golden Triangle but also greatly enhanced the living standards of
the local farmers.
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MAP posted-by: Josh