Lao PDR

The Lao People's Democratic Republic (PDR), commonly known as Laos, is a southeast Asian nation bordered by China to the north, Myanmar (Burma) to the northwest, Thailand to the west, Cambodia to the south, and Vietnam to the east. Laos has a history of opiate production, although recent anti-opiate efforts have significantly reduced the cultivation of poppy. Given its central location in the opiate-producing region of southeast Asia, Laos is a transit point for opium and heroin from Myanmar. There have also been recent reports of an increase in methamphetamine production and methamphetamine use, with nearly 2 percent of the population between the ages of 15 and 64 consuming methamphetamine annually.

Penalties for drug offenses are severe in Laos, and trafficking in narcotics is punishable by death. The Criminal Code of Laos penalizes possession of narcotics under Article 135. Under a new amendment to the existing code, possession of at least 100 grams of heroin is punishable with a 10-year prison sentence and a fine of up to $35,000 (100 million kip).

The drug most closely linked to Laos is opium. Large-scale production began during the First Indochina War, after which time it appeared to have declined. Production rose again in the mid-1980s when Laos became the world's third-largest source of illicit opium, a position sustained for almost two decades. In the early 1990s an intervention to gradually suppress production through socioeconomic development began. In 2000 this approach was replaced by “accelerated rural development,” which emphasizes eradication. Since 2000 production has decreased significantly, however, high levels of poverty may render this unsustainable. Reductions in opium consumption have been paralleled by increasing methamphetamine use. Generally, criminal justice and health institutions lack the resources to effectively tackle distribution and consumption.

Opium production was limited until the Second Indochina War (1959–75), when various actors were implicated in distributing opiates, primarily for consumption by U.S. military stationed in Vietnam. This trade included Laotian opium manufactured into heroin in the Burma-Laos-Thailand border area. In 1971, at the insistence of the United [Page 462]States, production and consumption were prohibited and programs supported by the United States were initiated to resettle farmers and aerially eradicate crops using herbicides in the Pathet Lao territory. The U.S. military withdrawal from Vietnam left a heroin surplus. During this time the removal of Turkish/French heroin supplies also created a gap in the global market; this was filled by Lao (Thai and Burmese) opiates.

Information from 1975 onward is sketchy; however, it appears that production declined until 1985, when the Communist Party facilitated the production of opium for medicinal use. As the price paid to farmers was low, diversion to illicit markets occurred, and in 1986 Laos was reported as the world's third-largest source of illicit opium; a position held almost consistently until 2005.

In 1989 the first of several socioeconomic development projects was undertaken in opium growing areas. In 1994 a national “Masterplan” declared that interventions would be based upon a “gradual approach” in which community-based development would assist farmers to gradually replace opium with alternative incomes. This was overturned in 2000 when the government ordered a complete suppression by 2005. The post–2000 approach is often referred to as “accelerated rural development,” although it emphasizes eradication over development. The government denies using excessive force, claiming that many crops are voluntarily eradicated. However, some observers claim military coercion drives “voluntary” actions while military, police, and civil organizations forcefully eradicate if farmers are uncooperative. Herbicidal eradication is prohibited.

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