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The BurmaNet News: June 15, 1998



------------------------ BurmaNet ------------------------
 "Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies"
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The BurmaNet News: June 15, 1998
Issue #1026

SPECIAL EDITION: THE U.N. ANTI-DRUGS SPECIAL SESSION

HEADLINES:
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BKK POST: CONCERN OVER RISE IN USE OF AMPHETAMINES 
AWSJ: TOKYO PLANS GRANT TO HELP FARMERS 
THE NATION (EDITORIAL): INTERNATIONAL PROBLEM 
NYT(EDITORIAL): CHEERLEADERS AGAINST DRUGS 
AWSJ (REVIEW AND OUTLOOK): THE ROAD FROM MANDALAY 
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The Bangkok Post: Concern Over the Rise of Use of Amphetamines
11 June, 1998  

30 million people now use speed pills

Participants at the United Nations' anti-drug summit are focusing on the
worrying increase in the use of amphetamines in the 1990s, especially among
young people in Asia and Europe.

The three-day summit, which brings together representatives of more than
160 countries, has made the fight against these amphetamine-type stimulants
(ATS) one of its priorities.

According to the UN's International Drug Control Programme "ATS grew more
strongly than any other illicit substance in the 1990s."

ATS, which are consumed by some 30 million people (0.5 percent of the
world's population), now come in second after cannabis, used by 140 million
people. But they rank far ahead of cocaine (13 million people) and heroin
(eight million people).

In Asia and Europe, ATS are generally the first or second most used drugs.

Methamphetamines are dominant in Asia and, North America, while
amphetamines and Ecstasy, often used in "rave parties", are the most
popular in Europe.

In Japan, some 90 per cent of drug control violations are linked to
methamphetamines, which seem to be the drug of choice in the 1990s in the
Philippines.

Major opium producer Burma said the international community had a "moral
imperative" to fund moves to help farmers' plant alternative crops to poppy.

And Australia announced a $9 million (386 million baht) programme to combat
drug trafficking in the Asia-Pacific region and to finance crop eradication
programmes in the Mekong Basin of Southeast Asia. 

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Asian Wall Street Journal: Tokyo Plans Grant to Help Myanmar's Minority
Farmers
11 June, 1998 

Japan appears to be stepping up economic assistance to Myanmar. According
to Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the government plans to grant about
800 million yen ($5.7 million) to Myanmar to help minorities in the
mountain regions bordering Thailand and China shift from opium farming to
food crops such as rice and buckwheat.

An official at the ministry says this is out of humanitarian considerations
and doesn't imply any change in the basic policy of the Japanese
government, which froze economic assistance to the government of Myanmar
after a military coup there in 1988.

This new grant follows Japan's decision about three months ago to disburse
about 2.5 billion yen for a Yangon airport project -- part of 27.2 billion
yen in credit the Japanese government committed in the middle of 1980s but
had suspended.

Japan has been providing grant aid for so-called grass-roots projects in
Myanmar through non-governmental organizations in recent years. But there
had been no grant exceeding 100 million yen since October 1995, when Tokyo
provided a grant of about 1.6. billion yen to help Myanmar improve its
medication education system.

Some Japanese companies also appear to be warming anew to Myanmar. Toyota
Motor Corp. late last month opened a representative office in Yangon. The
move was made "to gather information about the country's automobile-related
policies and also road situation," a Toyota spokeswoman says. 

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The Nation: Drug Menace Is an International Problem 
11 June, 1998  

Editorial

The havoc wreaked by illicit drugs, unlike in the past, is no longer
confined to the Golden Triangle of Southeast Asia or the Golden Crescent of
Southwest Asia. Drug abuse and trafficking have truly become a global
problem, and as such any attempt to curb the drug menace will, at the very
least, require the highest cooperation and policy coordination from
virtually every country in the world.

In an era where the world is encountering new production technologies and a
slew of designer drugs, this week's United Nations General Assembly on the
World Drug Problem is no doubt part of an important global effort to combat
drug abuse and illicit drug production.

Thailand being a key frontline state in the war against drugs, has given
full support to the UN's global drug strategy adopted yesterday, which aims
to reduce the number of drug addicts around the world and to eradicate
illegal drug production.

Thailand has long been considered a major supply route in heroin. Not
surprisingly, it was one of the major targets of international anti-drug
operations in the past. The situation has changed somewhat. The production
of drugs is now mostly located in neighbouring countries, and Thailand in
turn has become a major transit hub in drug trafficking as well as an
importing centre for chemicals used in this illicit industry. Because of
this, the war against drugs must not only involve the cooperation of
Thailand, but also all exporting and importing countries.

It is also imperative that the drug control measures agreed at the regional
level be fully implemented. This includes the 1993 Memorandum of
Understanding on Drug Control among Cambodia, China, Laos, Burma, Thailand,
Vietnam and UN International Drug Control Department. The MOU is considered
the major regional mechanism aimed at reducing drug abuse and illicit drug
trafficking. Moreover, it offers a much-needed platform for countries in
the region to openly discuss their common drug problem.

Given the globalisation of the drug problem, it is about time that the
Narcotics Control Board, chaired by Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai,
reinvested itself. To keep pace with international drug trafficking, this
national body must include representatives from the Foreign Ministry on its
the board. Since many aspects of the drug problem are transnational in
nature, these Foreign Ministry members can help with cross-border
negotiations that sometimes must be done with great diplomacy and tact.

In addition, to counter the growing trend in drug consumption and
production, adequate financial assistance must be extended to poor
countries which have serious drug problems, especially those known to be
drug-producing countries. Corp substitution programmes have proved to be
one of the most effective ways to counter drug production, but more aid is
badly needed.

Without such additional assistance -- and because of the on-going economic
crisis -- the number of players in the drug business will certainly
balloon, especially those who seek a quick fortune. The seizure of million
of amphetamine tablets in Thailand shows that we must not remain complacent.

Certainly, the adoption of the UN declaration on drugs will herald a new
phase of international drug control cooperation. But without the highest
level of political will and the unwavering commitment of rich
industrialised countries to combat poverty in drug-producing countries, the
war against drugs could be lost even before it begins. 

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The New York Times: Cheerleaders Against Drugs 
9 June, 1998 

Editorial

Manhattan is filled this week with world leaders attending a
well-intentioned but misdirected United Nations conference on drugs.  With
drugs more plentiful and cheaper than ever worldwide, the leaders are
mostly extolling failed strategies to combat the problem.  Pino Arlacchi,
the Italian official who heads the organization's International Drug
Control Program, is promising to eliminate coca leaf and opium poppies, the
basis of cocaine and heroin, in 10 years.  Such claims get in the way of
effective programs to reduce drug use.

Mr. Arlacchi's proposal, which is likely to be approved, would attempt to
cut drug cultivation by bringing roads, schools, and other development to
drug areas.  The notion sounds reasonable, and it is surely better to help
farmers than to finance a militarized war on drugs, which has torn apart
societies and built up some of the world's most repressive armies.  But
elements of Mr. Arlacchi's plan are unrealistic and harmful.  Half the
funding would supposedly come from drug-producing nations themselves, an
unlikely prospect.  Mr. Arlacchi would also make partners out of such
abusive and unreliable governments as the Taliban in Afghanistan and the
military in Myanmar.

While there is a place for crop substitution, law enforcement,
interdiction, and other programs to cut drug supply, these steps rarely
deliver promised results.  Where crop substitution has been successful,
drug cultivation has simply moved next door.

The conference has seen a welcome increase in talk about the duties of
drug-consuming countries, but its proposals are still tilted toward
attacking supply.  Studies show that treatment programs are far more
cost-effective than efforts overseas.  But it is politically safer to
advocate fighting drugs abroad than treating addicts at home.

The U.N. kept off the program virtually all the citizens' groups and
experts who wanted to speak.  There is no discussion of some interesting
new ideas such as harm reduction, which focuses on programs like needle
exchanges and methadone that cut the damage drugs do.  Like previous U.N.
drug conferences, this one seems designed primarily to recycle unrealistic
pledges and celebrate dubious programs.

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Asian Wall Street Journal: The Road from Mandalay 
10 June, 1998 

Review & Outlook

There's a war on against the war on drugs. As the U.N. General Assembly
opened a special anti-drugs session this week, an international group of
prominent citizens urged the world to cede a victory to drugs and
concentrate its money and attention on making addicts more comfortable.
"The global war on drugs is now causing more harm than drug abuse itself,"
said a 500-signature letter from famous people such as former U.N.
Secretary General Javier Perez de Cuellar and former U.S. Secretary of
State George Schultz. "Punitive prohibitions" should be dropped in favor of
approaches based on "common sense, public health and human rights."

The notion that drug use is both a human right and an unstoppable urge is
at root a deeply immoral one, with its suggestion that some human lives are
not worth saving from the scourge of addiction. Fortunately, this defeatist
attitude, financed by George Soros among others, is still a minority one.
The mainstream view remains the one articulated by French president Jacques
Chirac as the U.N session opened: "The great crusade against drugs will not
end until we have done [away] with this cancer eating at our societies."
U.S. President Bill Clinton seconded that with a call for intensified
efforts and expenditure to combat the production, trafficking in and
consumption of drugs.

Critics of this approach include a diverse crew of libertarians, leftists
and self-described realists who argue that years of global efforts have
done little or nothing to stem the flow and consumption of narcotics.

Some add that de-criminalizing drug use is the best way to bring down drug
lords and to eradicate the pernicious political and social effects of their
illegal activities. What all seem to believe is that drug use and abuse are
here to stay, and that instead of locking up addicts, governments should
concentrate on making them less of a threat to themselves and their
societies by providing safer access to drugs and other health services.

Try telling that to the families of drug abusers, and the parents who are
battling to keep their kids from the ruination that inevitably accompanies
drug use, whether the local clinic provides clean needles or not.
Pedophilia and child prostitution are also here to stay, but you don't hear
anyone arguing that they should be legalized or at least made safe and
sanitary.

The argument that heroin addiction is different because it is a victimless
crime -- or would be if laws were changed -- is fundamentally dishonest. At
least one person gets hurt in each case, as do all who love them. Removing
the "fear" from drug use, as the anti-war petitioners urge, can only
increase the risk that many more people will experiment with narcotics.

None of this can obscure the fact that the current war on drugs trafficking
-- and the political corruption, economic distortion, crime, AIDS and other
social ills that flow from it -- is not going well. Pouring more money into
the fight is not going to win it, nor are presidential platitudes about
saying little children.

On the other hand, it doesn't take an expert to notice that most of the
heroin in the world comes from two countries -- Burma and Afghanistan --
with governments that have so little claim to legitimacy that the survival
of their regime has come to depend on the income generated by drugs. Nor is
it a coincidence that as democracy has solidified in Thailand, official
accountability there has improved to the point where Burmese traffickers
prefer to route their wares through neighboring non-democracies, such as
China and Laos.

If the global war on drugs isn't working, the answer is not to abandon the
fight. It is to regroup and begin thinking about some indirect approaches
that will subject more governments to the will and the votes of ordinary
people -- who have much less tolerance for the drug culture and its
denizens than the 500 famous authors of this week's petition.

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