Opium poppy farmers reject crop ban, war on drugs
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Myanmar Times - Opium poppy farmers from Myanmar attending an international conference on “prohibited plants” have rejected a ban on growing their crops and urged an end to forced eradication.
Floris Leeuwenberg
“We reject prohibition and the war on drugs,” small-scale farmers from 14 countries, including Myanmar, said in a joint statement at the end of a Global Forum of Prohibited Plant Producers held in Heemskerk, the Netherlands, that was organised by advocacy group Transnational Institute (TNI).
Participants rejected outright prohibition and asserted their right to cultivate coca, cannabis and opium poppies for cultural, medical and religious reasons. Conclusions from the conference stressed that forced eradication of the crops went against human rights and caused major economic and social problems.
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The Heemskerk Declaration Final declaration of the Global Forum of Producers of Prohibited Plants
