"Jean-Luc Lemahieu is the Rangoon representative of the UN Office of Drugs and Crime. His office works with both the military and ethnic minority groups to wipe out drug production and trafficking in Burma. Through ground research and satellite surveys, the UNODC has made significant progress in identifying production sites and supply routes. He spoke to Aung Zaw... Question: You?ve spoken about evidence of gradual political will from Rangoon in combatting the drug problem. What do you mean by that? Answer: I mean the government still has a long way to go if it they want to be the best student in the class. If you consider the class as the international community, and if every member of the community has obligations to enforce international drug control efforts, you can definitely say this government has good reports. Nonetheless, in the academic world you have primary school, secondary school, you have university. Overall, you could say in terms of drug control we are now here in secondary school ready to go to university. The fact that the money laundering legislation has been approved, that the mutual legal assistance legislation is being formulated is a positive sign. Once that is in place, we can go to university. But getting into university demands added effort from the government. We?re gradually moving forward... Q: What do you make of the drug burning shows, organized by officials in Burma? A: What is more important, the burning of the drugs, or the interception of the drugs? I think the burning of the drugs has a symbolic value and it can serve certain purposes, it can serve as an indicator and as a message of good will, there are different ways to look at it. But obviously, the interest is not how high the flames of the drug burning go, but how we can intercept more drugs. Q: Is a drug-free Burma realistic? A: We?re not aiming for a drug free Burma. We?re aiming for a Burma where drug problems do not negatively affect the daily lives of the thousands of people as it does today..."