"Opium cultivation in Myanmar decreased last year, continuing the downward trend that started in 2014 due in part to the continuing shift in the regional drug market towards synthetic drugs, according to a new UN survey. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Myanmar Opium Survey 2019, released on Tuesday in Naypyitaw, the amount of land cultivated for opium dropped 11 percent in 2019 to 33,100 hectares (ha), continuing the downward trend from 57,600 ha in 2014. Decreases were observed in Shan State’s northern, eastern and southern areas with drops of 7, 8 and 17 percent respectively, but cultivation increased slightly in Kachin State, up 15 percent from 2018. Despite the declines, the UNODC said that “the highest levels of cultivation continue to take place in unstable and conflict prone areas of Shan and Kachin.” It added that opium cultivation, heroin production and trafficking, and the evolving illicit drug economy, including heroin and synthetic drugs, “are affecting peace and stability in the country and surrounding border areas.” Shan and Kachin states are Myanmar’s main opium producing areas and UNODC focused its 2019 survey on these states. In 2018, Chin and Kayah states were included in the survey. UNODC conducts the Myanmar Opium Survey jointly with the Central Committee for Drug Abuse Control (CCDAC) under Myanmar’s Ministry of Home Affairs..."