Opium Production Booms in Myanmar As Economy Squeezes | BBC News Source

Adapted from the BBC News channel:
Production of opium, which is a raw material for narcotics, has increased sharply in Myanmar after a seven-year decline, says the United Nations (UN). Opium production figures touched nearly 795 metric tons in 2022, more than double the 423 metric tons in 2021, which was the year of the military coup in Myanmar. The United Nations believes the increase in production has been driven by economic difficulties, while the price of the opium resin used to make heroin has increased. The coup in Myanmar has plunged most of its people into a bloody civil war, which continues to this day.

Economic, security and governance disturbances after the military takeover in February 2021 mixed together, leaving farmers in remote, conflict-prone areas such as those in northern Shan and in states close to the border, with no choice but to return to opium,” said Jeremy Douglas, regional representative of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).