Book Description
This digital document is an article from Contemporary Southeast Asia, published by Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS) on April 1, 2003. The length of the article is 7794 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.From the author: The problem of narcotics trafficking (and more recently, methamphetamine production and trafficking) in Myanmar has been a regional and international problem for decades. The issue must be approached as an economic and social problem rather than a political or military one. The approaches must be multinational and multi-discipline, taking into account the economic, commercial, political, and social issues that force the cultivation of the opium poppy and the production of illegal drugs in the Shan State. This multi-dimensional approach is preferable whether the present military government or a democratic alternative holds power in Yangon. The problems include the lack of viable alternative crops, nonexistent transportation, the problem of armed gangs (whether ethnic or economic in nature), the lack of government presence, and the historical inability of the Myanmar armed forces to control the region.Citation Details
Title: Prospects for controlling narcotics production and trafficking in Myanmar.
Author: Richard M. Gibson
Publication: Contemporary Southeast Asia (Refereed)
Date: April 1, 2003
Publisher: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS)
Volume: 25 Issue: 1 Page: 1(19)Distributed by Thompson Gale
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Introduction The Union of Myanmar's military government has brought upon itself extensive criticism for its undemocratic nature and violations of internationally accepted human rights. There often are reasonable grounds for that criticism. When Yangon's critics venture into the complex issue of Myanmar's drug trade, however, the same reasonableness is not always apparent. That is especially so when critics blame the ruling generals for their country's role as one of the world's major producers of illicit narcotic drugs. Myanmar's generals are routinely accused of promoting the drug trade as a matter of government policy. Simplistic charges of official government complicity in the drug trade overlook the underlying security, political, and economic realities that have...
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