A/HRC/43/59 reported to be engaged in methamphetamine production, allegedly with the support of the United Wa State Army.17 In Rakhine State, the Border Guard Police (BGP) operates in addition to PMFs. The BGP is under the command of the Myanmar Police Force, which is controlled by the Tatmadaw-run Ministry of Home Affairs. BGP forces control regional checkpoints and other parts of the administration in Rakhine State. Since 2012, central and northern Rakhine State has become heavily militarised. Following the 2016 and 2017 security operations against the Rohingya in northern Rakhine, and in the context of the Tatmadaw’s current serious armed conflict with the Arakan Army, people and the transport of goods have been subject to curfews and movement restrictions. Over this same period, seizures of narcotics in Rakhine State have increased. By 2018, Rakhine accounted for the largest portion of methamphetamine pill seizures besides Shan 18 and is reported to be along a major trafficking route for methamphetamine going into South Asia. III. Drug addiction A. Trends in use From the 1950s to the 1990s heroin was the predominant drug produced in Myanmar, and has been widely available and used in parts of Myanmar for decades. In the 1990s heroin production began to decline but was replaced by the production of methamphetamines.19 These typically take the form of “yaba” – tablets containing a mixture of low-purity methamphetamine and caffeine. Since the early 2000s, yaba use has surged in Myanmar, corresponding with increased production of the drug. Yaba has become steadily cheaper and more readily available, despite significant increases in large and small seizures, and arrests of users and small-time dealers.20 More recently there has been a sharp rise in the production of crystal methamphetamine, 21 a high-purity crystalline form of methamphetamine, also known as “ice”. Crystal methamphetamine is reportedly becoming increasingly popular in the southeast Asia region, and while retail supply and demand in Myanmar at the present time is limited, it may increase. This has public health implications as crystal methamphetamine is more potent that yaba, and it is suitable for injection. 22 B. Conflict areas Drug addiction affects people around Myanmar, however a confluence of factors in ethnic states affected by conflict can fuel rates of drug use and addiction and exacerbate the negative impacts for individuals and communities. The presence of Tatmadaw, militia, BGF, and EAOs, all of whom may be involved in the production, sale and distribution of narcotics, combined with weak rule of law, results in drugs being readily available. Marginalisation, discrimination and economic deprivation faced by ethnic communities have contributed to conditions conducive to high rates of drug use and addiction. These issues are acute in internally displaced persons camps in Myanmar and refugee camps on Myanmar’s borders with Thailand and Bangladesh. A joint report by Mon, Kachin, Karen, Karenni, Shan, Pa-o and Ta-ang civil society groups on the impact of 17 18 19 20 21 22 26 Buchanan, 2016. UNODC, 2019. For more information see “Addressing drug problems in Myanmar: 5 key interventions that can make a difference” Drug Policy Advocacy Group Myanmar, 2017. For more information see “Methamphetamine use in Myanmar, Thailand and Southern China: assessing practices, reducing harms” by Renaud Cachia and Thura Myint Lwin for the Transnational Institute, 2019. ICG, 2019. Cachia and Thura Myint Lwin, 2019.