Opium Flourishes in Laos and Myanmar

Laos and Myanmar are two of the few countries capable of producing opium, a raw material that can be used for analgesic or pain-relieving drugs and has sedative properties.

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) calculated the distribution of land used for opium cultivation in Laos and Myanmar.

When calculated and compared with deforestation status since 2000, most opium is cultivated outside forest areas. The distribution shows that 91% of the total opium cultivation area in Laos and 82% in Myanmar is outside forested areas. This cultivation likely originates from open land, farmland, or scrubland that is no longer forested.

There is also cultivation on land deforested within the last three years. This indicates that cultivation is not long after deforestation. For this classification, Laos accounts for 5% and Myanmar for 10%.

Meanwhile, some opium is cultivated on land that was deforested three or more years ago. There is a considerable time lapse between deforestation and cultivation. In this classification, Laos accounts for 4% and Myanmar for 8%.

The UNODC notes that besides Myanmar and Laos, Afghanistan is the largest global opium producer. After a drastic 95% decrease in opium production in Afghanistan in 2023 compared to 2022 and a 36% increase in Myanmar, global opium production fell by 74% in 2023.

Citing the National Narcotics Agency (BNN) of Cianjur Regency, opium poppy is extracted from *Papaver Somniferum*, a flower whose seeds yield raw sap that can be processed into the base material for narcotics such as morphine, codeine, and heroin.

Opium is an annual plant that can only be cultivated in subtropical mountainous regions at approximately one meter in height. Each stalk produces only one flower with red, white, purple, or pink petals.

Almost all parts of the opium plant are used in narcotics, from the fruit to the stalks, except for the seeds.