Myanmar Efforts to Control Illicit Drugs (1998-2015)

Since the assumption of the state power in 1988, Myanmar Government sought to control opium cultivation and production and drug trafficking. Then, the Government reestablished the Central Committee for Drug Abuse Control and adopted objectives, strategies and tactics, promulgated the laws, rules and regulations relating to the control on drug-related crimes. The Government reached the peace agreements with the armed insurgent groups and attempted to develop the border areas and socio-economic lives of national races. To accelerate the border area development and to be effective in drug eradication measures, the Government also implemented the Fifteen-Year Narcotics Elimination Plan. This Plan has been extended a further five years and will conclude in 2019. Nevertheless, drug eradication measures achieved success in some extent. Three Opium Free Zones were emerged in Shan State. This research aims to analyze how Myanmar attempted to control drug problems