• DPMC Moderators: thegreenhand | tryptakid
  • Drug Policy & Media Coverage Welcome Guest
    View threads about
    Posting Rules Bluelight Rules
    Drug Busts Megathread Video Megathread

News Myanmar surpasses Afghanistan in Opium Production

It’s not exactly known as a tourist destination. For decades it was known as a brutal & repressive military dictatorship. Then around 2015 or so it looked like there could be some movement away from that sort of thing toward a more democratic system…but ultimately they backslid, did a lil genocide and now its back to being an authoritarian shithole. There’s been a civil war in the countryside that’s been ongoing for about 40+ years. So yeah, not exactly a top tourist destination, although I did know someone who went there on a Buddhist retreat around 2014 and they said it was nice
 
BadBoy377 said:
Possibly more tourist friendly too? Anyone know?
Click to expand...
I've been to Myanmar briefly. It was a nice place, impoverished and corrupt though. I wouldn't want to be there now with ongoing civil war going in earnest. @Burnt Offerings is correct in that they were moving towards more democratic processes, but then the military junta regained control and things have steadily deteriorated into civil war.
 
Countries that produce heroin also have some pretty harsh laws on doing such chemicals.
 
Jennn said:
Countries that produce heroin also have some pretty harsh laws on doing such chemicals.
Click to expand...
Certainly, but bribe the right people and I'm sure these operations continue and just get "taxed" in a sense... too much money in it for the Taliban to ignore ultimately I reckon. I bet both the rebel groups and the military Junta in Myanmar both ultimately benefit from Opium Production. Guns etc need to be bought somehow after all. You saw the same thing with FARC and cocaine in S. America.
 
The opium poppy isn't particularly picky. It's been successfully cultivated in North America, South America, Europe, Asia and Australasia.

It's merely dependent on the political landscape. Any failed state or civil war will prove a likely area for prodction.

Right now the Shan State is fighting a civil war with the government (dictatorship) of Myanmar,

But don't place too much trust in Afghanistan no longer being a producer. That's a government who have just realized that the economy relied on heroin production. No infrastructure so only crops with shelf-life measured in years is a practical crop for most farmers.
 
I wonder will we ever see more white #4 heroin in the UK?

I had it once before. But I'm not 100% sure it was legitimate.

Afghanistan will surely always produce opium at least. I do wonder at some stage will there be another drug they can make that sells better than heroin.
 
Number 4 which to all intents and purposes is identical to pharmaceutical diamorphine hydrochloride was common in the UK until the mid 1980s.

It's still around in certain circles being smuggled in from Singapore.

IF you know people in those circles, expect to pay £120/gram and don't expect anyone to offer it in anything BUT grams.

Methamphetamine is a whole different arena. It can be made entirely synthetically although I believe in some regions people do cultivate ephedra.
 
Yeah, Afghanistan.

Vice did a piece on it. They have ephedrine containing plants that grow there wild on the hills. So they harvest and process.
 
BadBoy377 said:
Yeah, Afghanistan.

Vice did a piece on it. They have ephedrine containing plants that grow there wild on the hills. So they harvest and process.
Click to expand...

I was quite surprise how much ephedrine and pseudoephedrine their is (by dry weight) in Ephedre sinica (which is what I presume they are growing),

I know cannabis is grown and even some synthetics are actually being produced in Afghanistan but I didn't know methamphetamine was a product.

I now know that Iran has become a common transit point and market.

The Taliban actually promoted the growing of poppies when they weren't controlling the nation which is why I suspect that the official figures may not reflect the truth on the ground.

Like fentanyl, it only takes one informed person to suggest the growing of the oriental poppy as Tazmanian Alkaloids even patented how to selectively breed to vastly increase the thebaine and oripavine content. Yes, it requires REAL chemistry but I strongly suggest that initially at least, as they did with heroin, the Afghan farmers will just produce these precursors.

One etorphine analogue is some x9400 M in potency so a small lab could produce a lot of doses. In between those two extremes, oxycodone and oxymorphone could be made in Afghanistan itself..
 
Great news. Props to Myanmar.

Now if they could get their political violence situation under control.

Imagine a tourist destination like Thailand - except heroin is legal

Sounds like a paradise
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top