YANGON, June 26 (Xinhua) -- A Myanmar anti-drug official on Wednesday warned of increasing synthetic drug production from chemicals and precursors instead of producing from poppy in the country, saying that using of such drugs was on the rise and demand was far from falling.
In his message on the occasion of the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, Myanmar Minister of Home Affairs Lt. Gen. Kyaw Swe called for participation and cooperation of the people in order to enable the goal of a drug-free nation can be reached.
He quoted figures as saying that in 2018, poppy was cultivated on 37,380 hectares of land and 520 tons was produced, reducing by 8.8 percent and 5.45 percent respectively as compared with 2017 when poppy was cultivated on 41,000 hectares and 550 tons were produced.
Despite drop in poppy cultivation and production on one hand, there were increase in illicit drug seizures and production, he said.
To raise the livelihood of opium growers, the government is cooperating with international organizations and acquiring technical support to conduct alternative development projects and to seek markets for the products of the projects, particularly coffee, to be exported to European countries.
On the healthcare side, he said a total of 10,849 drug addicts were treated in 2018.
Drug addicts are being rehabilitated with community-based support and projects which help them recover mentally and physically to enable them to be reintegrated back into society.
This year's International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking was held under theme of "Health for Justice, Justice for Health."
