The Burmese elections will be the most defining moment in Burmese politics for a generation, but Aung San Suu Kyi's rumoured possibility of release is still uncertain.

Opium production in Southeast Asia has hit record levels, thanks in large part to increased poppy cultivation in Burma’s impoverished, war-torn north.

Poppy cultivation has rapidly expanded in the Myanmar and Laos parts of the Golden Triangle, to feed new demands for heroin, chiefly in China, according to a report released Monday.
"After a decade of decline, Southeast Asia is now once again a major opium growing region," it claims.

The resurgence of the illicit drugs trade in Burma in recent years is the result of flawed drug control policies by Burma and its neighbors, a new report says. It urges regional governments to reform their repressive policies in order to better address the trade’s underlying causes, such as rural poverty, and the impact of a rise in drug use.

The steep rise is opium cultivation across Southeast Asia and its associated problems over the past five years is being encouraged by draconian anti-drug policies instituted as part ASEAN's strategy to become "drug-free" by 2015, a non-government organisation says in a new report.

A decade ago, Myanmar seemed on course to wipe out the opium fields and heroin jungle labs along its eastern border, the notorious Golden Triangle. Today, valley after valley in these mist-shrouded mountains is covered with resplendent opium poppies, tended by farmers who perch on steep hillsides to harvest the plant’s sticky, intoxicating sap.

Shan Herald Agency for News - The Transnational Institute, has released another report saying the ongoing peace process has raised hope for more effective drug policies.

Shan Herald Agency for News - The Transnational Institute, has released another report saying the ongoing peace process has raised hope for more effective drug policies.

IRIN - The reasons behind Myanmar’s six decades of ethnic warfare are many and varied, but General “Robert” Ar Nyun can tell you in a word why his group began fighting the government four years ago: drugs.

The Fix - The most recent figures, released in 2014 by UNODC, show that poppy cultivation has more than doubled since 2006. A report by the Transnational Institute (TNI) sheds light on the reasons behind this increase.

Myanmar Times  - To unravel Myanmar's drug trade and end the decades-long civil war, Tatmadaw-backed militias will need to be involved in the dialogue, experts say.

The Guardian - Rural development programmes to wean poppy farmers off their illicit crop contend with lack of roads, water and power in remote areas plagued by militias

As more people in Kachin fall victim to drug abuse, Christian group Pat Jasan is taking matters into its own hands.