To Hopeland and Back: The 23rd trip
Day Three. Monday , 7 November 2016
A drug is not bad. A drug is a chemical
compound.
The problem comes in when people who take
drugs treat them like a license to behave like an asshole.
Frank Zapap (1940-1993)
American musician, songwriter, composer, guitarist,
and others
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Tom Kramer
(Photo: idpc.net)
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Today is the day made for
learning. Which is all right with me, because I know there’s a lot I need to
catch up.
The opening
speech for the 8th Asia Informal Drug Policy Dialogue by Police
Brigadier General Myint Htoo, Joint Secretary of CCDAC. The following are the
excerpts:
·
Efforts to address the world drug problem have not produced the
expected results
·
(There are) links between
drug and conflict for efforts to bring peace and reconciliation to our country
·
The UNGASS (UN General Assembly Special Session on drugs which was held
last April in New York) outcome document must be applied as policy framework
for member states to develop national drug policies
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Secretary-General
Visits UNODC Project in Shan State,
Myanmar Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon meets
local villagers in Kyauk Ka Char, Shan State, Myanmar,
where he visited the
Government and
UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) co-sponsored
"Drug
Alternative Development Project" being implemented
in the area. Kyauk Ka
Char, Myanmar (Photo: UNODC)
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The other opening speeches by Tom Kramer, who
imposes a strict Chattham House Rule, and Ms Katrin Buder from Germany’s GIZ,
are not long. So before we know what’s what, we are treated to an early coffee
break.
One of the police officers
sitting across the table, in reply to a question, says outright the UN
alternative development project at Kyauk Ka Cha, near Taunggyi, where UN chief
Ban Ki-Moon visited in April 2012, was a flop. “To make any (drug) programme
work,” he explains, “we need three things: the leadership by the regional
government, effective assistance from the outside, and the people’s
participation.
The first session, which
begins right after the break, is about regional trends in drug markets, policy
responses and drug policy reform:
CCDAC: The new drug control policy is
expected to be adopted by April next year (Earlier it was reported by Myanmar
Times that the proposed changes to the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic
Substances Law would likely decriminalize drug addiction, sending users to
rehabilitation centers instead of jail)
Thailand: 30 years ago, heroin was the rage in
the kingdom. Then came meth. The three most common types of illicit drugs in
use are cannabis, meth and kratom (a substance derived from Mitregyna speciosa)
Globally, data has
suggested that strict drug control policies do not always translate into lower
level of drug use.
The result is that the
present justice minister Paiboon Koomchaya is pushing for reform, backed by
royally-initiated Khamlangjai Project.
The
Philippines: More body counts
which go hand in hand with the upsurge in the president’s popularity.
The participants, especially those from the
unofficial side, don’t appear to be in favor of the UNGASS outcome. While
several celebrities and world leaders had called for a change to the response
to drugs that promotes global health, security and human rights, they say the
UNGASS resolution is continuing existing approaches. For instance,
decriminalization of drug use was nowhere mentioned.
The afternoon session is about alternative
development. Here are some notes I have jotted down:
Mae Fah Luang: The motto is 3-S: Survival,
Sufficiency, and Sustainability
Foreign participant: Eradication
first policy doesn’t work.
Domestic
participant: If we look at what has
happened in the Wa area (after the opium ban in 2005), we may find that it’s a
classic case of: the operation’s a success, only the patient died.
Today’s
programme ends with a dinner party at Shwe Yin Chuan, a Chinese restaurant.
Tags: Opinion
