Overview of drug use (Myanmar): "The main drugs of use in Myanmar during the past decade have been heroin which is primarily injected and opium which is primarily smoked. Prevalence estimates vary, but the number of opioid users are likely in the hundreds of thousands (UNODC, 2004). Emerging in the mid-1990s, methamphetamine has become a prominent drug of concern. Since 2004, methamphetamine has ranked third in terms of use behind the two leading drugs. Since 2005, methamphetamine has accounted for about a quarter of all drug related arrests, while heroin and opium together have accounted for more than half. A survey in 2005 conducted by the Central Committee for Drug Abuse Control (CCDAC) among high school students in the towns of Tamu, Muse, Tachilek, Myawaddy and Kawthaung indicates low lifetime prevalence rates for this sub-population of youth. With the exception of cough syrups, drug use prevalence was less than 2%. However, the survey points out that results may have been higher had the survey been expanded to include the significant number of youth who did not attend high school. Illicit manufacture of methamphetamine, primarily in pill form (yaba), continues, particularly in the Shan, Wa, and Kokang autonomous region. The political situation in Myanmar in 2009 is unsettled, with open hostilities between government and ethnic groups previously under cease fire agreement. This instability could affect the current illicit drug production and trafficking dynamics in the region. There is a likelihood that these changing conditions will serve as a push factor for increasing the trafficking of illicit drugs and could result in the relocation of clandestine manufacturing sites across the border. Also, the areas along the Lao PDR and Cambodia border could experience increased trafficking activity with the possibility that clandestine lab operations may be established in these areas..."