Description:
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: "Myanmar?s drug policies are out-dated and
inadequate to respond to the great challenges
posed by problematic drug use and production
in the country. The 1993 Narcotic Drugs and
Psychotropic Substances Law has failed to
eliminate - or even reduce - drug use, trafficking
and production. Worse, the implementation
of harsh policies and penalties has caused
immense additional harm to Myanmar people
and communities.
Thousands of people have been unnecessarily
exposed to the risk of infectious diseases and
premature death as a direct result of those
policies. Myanmar prisons are filled with drug
users serving long-term sentences for mostly
non-violent small drug offenses, while major
traffickers are left undisturbed. Entire villages
of impoverished poppy farmers have been
targeted by forced eradication campaigns and
pushed further into poverty, without any viable
livelihoods alternatives to survive and pay for
healthcare and education of their children.
Fortunately, successful interventions have also
been conducted in the country. HIV prevalence
among people who inject drugs started to
decline following the implementation of health
and harm reduction services for drug users.
The lives of thousands of drug users and their
families have hugely improved, thanks to the
benefits of methadone programmes initiated by
Myanmar Ministry of Health and Sports. Several
isolated communities from Eastern Shan State
that were included in alternative development
programmes voluntarily abandoned opium
cultivation and successfully transitioned
towards licit livelihoods strategies.
These domestic experiences add up to a growing
body of evidence from all around the world,
which indicate that policies grounded in public
health, human rights and development, can
yield an impressively wide range of benefits.
Indeed, such policies not only improve people?s
health and support livelihoods, they also lower
levels of drug related crime and corruption,
reduce violence, conflict, and pressure on the
criminal justice system, and ultimately result in
greater social cohesion.
Existing good practices are no doubt positive
steps but are yet to be implemented at scale.
Overall, the lack of adequate response by previous
Governments has led to great frustration among
affected communities and the Myanmar population
at large, as drug related problems have continued
to mount and have become a key national
concern.
Time has come to learn from such failures,
embrace a different approach and adopt policies
that are based on public health, community
safety, human rights and development. Only
such policies will deliver on the promise to
improve people?s lives; only such policies will
truly allow Myanmar to reduce the harm
caused by problematic drug use, trafficking and
production."
Source/publisher:
Transnational Institute/Drug Policy Advocacy Group Myanmar
Date of Publication:
2017-02-08
Date of entry:
2017-03-18
Grouping:
- Individual Documents
Category:
Language:
English, Burmese (မြန်မာဘာသာ)
Local URL:
Format:
pdf pdf
Size:
1.12 MB 2.65 MB