Illicit Drug use in the Asia Pacific Region - Burnet Institute

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Situational analysis of illicit drug issues and responses in the Asia–Pacific region 174 The first major changes to opium control came in 1971 when the Royal Lao PDR Government banned the use of opium . The law permitted opium addicts from ethnic minorities to apply for a permit allowing them to cultivate poppies for personal use . After the opium ban it was estimated that there were about 50,000 dependent opium users in Lao PDR . In early 1990 the Lao PDR Government under the influence of the international community began to implement large-scale crop eradication and alternative development projects aimed at reducing opium supply and use . In 1996, the Government also totally banned opium production and use . By 1998 surveys of opium began to report reduced use and production for the first time in a decade . However, it appears that a reduction in opium use is being paralleled by an increase in the use of other drugs such as ATS (Reid & Costigan, 2002; United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, 2004b, 2004c) . 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0% 2% 0–20 8% 21–30 17% 31–40 20% 41–50 A6 .2 Prevalence of drug use and profile of drug users The overall number of drug users in Lao PDR has not been estimated . However, figures are routinely collected about opium use . A number of studies have also been conducted looking at drug use in school-attending children, as well as service girls, unemployed youth and disco clients in Vientiane . Data from the 2004 UNODC Opium Survey (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, 2004b) showed that daily opium use occurred in 237 of the 388 villages surveyed . About 60 per cent of households surveyed (n = 13,775) reported having at least one daily opium user . Opium use is more concentrated in areas of high opium production . The likelihood of becoming a daily user of opium appeared to increase with age . 51–60 61–70 71–80 81–90 Figure A6 .1 . Percentage of Laotian opium users undergoing treatment, by age Source: UNODC Opium Survey 2004, page 15 19% 21% 9% 2% 0% 91+ According to official Lao government statistics, the total number of opium users did not change much from 2003 (n = 29,961) to 2004 (n = 28,030) . Of the 28,030 daily opium users, only about 1400 were women . Daily opium use occurs in about 2 .6 per cent of the total population (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, 2004b) . The first cases of amphetamine-type substance (ATS) use were reported by the Provincial Committee for Drug Control in the Bakeo Province in 1998 . ATS use appeared to increase rapidly and, within one year, the number of ATSrelated cases treated at the Vientiane hospital increased from 89 in 1999 to 210 in 2000 . Reports from other rural areas suggested that ATS users outnumbered or at least matched the number of opium users by 2002 (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, 2004c) . A recent qualitative study conducted in Lao PDR showed a normalisation of ATS (also commonly known as yaba in Laos PDR) use among some populations (Centre for Harm Reduction, 2004) . The study suggested that it was common for young people to take yaba and that it was readily available . Yaba was commonly used at bars and nightclubs to facilitate social gatherings and to increase energy levels . Participants in the study (n not reported) acknowledged negative impacts of yaba use including problems with families, lifestyle issues and law enforcement . Yaba users generally didn’t deeply consider why they took the drug; however, some reported the desire to try drugs, availability and peer pressure made it difficult not to participate in use . With support from the American Government, the Lao PDR Committee for Drug Control and the Ministry for Eduction undertook widescale urine tests in schools during 2003 . The test results from these studies have not been released, but according to media reports over 4000 cases were positive to ATS (Centre for Harm Reduction, 2004) . In 1999 and 2000, the Lao PDR Government, with assistance from the UNODC, surveyed 11,049 students at 43 educational institutions in three urban areas: Vientiane, Savannakhet and Luang Prabang . The students ranged from 12 to 21 years of age and were attending secondary school, vocational school or university . The studies showed that the most commonly used drugs were prescription drugs, cannabis, ATS and solvents . Lifetime prevalence of all drugs ranged from 17 .5 per cent for students in Vientiane, to 7 .6 per cent in Savannakhet and 5 .5 per cent in Luang Prabang . Lifetime prevalence of ATS was less but showed a similar decrease across the sites (see Table A6 .1 for figures) . Monthly use of any drug ranged from 7 .2 per cent in Vientiane to 2 .5 per cent in Luang Prabang . The average age of initiation into ATS use was about 16 years . The use of prescription drugs and cannabis was also reported (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, 2004a) . 175 Country profiles: Laos
Situational analysis of illicit drug issues and responses in the Asia–Pacific region 176 Table A6 .1 . Prevalence of drug use for students at three sites in Laos Vientiane Savannakhet Luang Prabang No . of students 2631 3534 4884 Lifetime prevalence (all drugs) 17 .5% 7 .6% 5 .5% Lifetime prevalence (ATS) 4 .8% 2 .1% 1 .1% Current abuse* (all drugs) 7 .2% 2 .9% 2 .5% Mean age of first ATS abuse 15 .6 15 .4 16 .5 * Current abuse means use in the last 30 days Source: UNODC Country Profile, 2003, page 21 Three additional studies where conducted in Vientiane which looked at drug use among disco clients (n = 50), service girls (n = 50) and unemployed youth (n = 50) . The studies summarised in Table A6 .2 revealed high lifetime prevalence of drug use, especially for ATS across all groups . Current use (defined as monthly use) of ATS was also high when compared to population estimates . The high number (n = 23) of non-response from service girls should be noted when interpreting the result . Table A6 .2 . Prevalence of drug use for three different population groups in Vientiane, Laos Drug use prevalence Disco clients (n = 50) Service girls (n = 50) Unemployed youth (n = 150) No . % No . % No . % Lifetime prevalence 19 38 9 18 69 46 12-month prevalence 15 30 8 16 39 26 Current prevalence 9 18 7 14 31 21 No response 7 14 23 46 11 7 Mean age of first use 20 .6 22 19 Type of drug ATS ATS ATS ATS lifetime prevalence 34 14 42 ATS 12-month prevalence 30 14 25 ATS current prevalence 18 14 20 .7 Source: UNODC Country Profile, 2003, page 21 Heroin use remains limited in Lao PDR . Reports from treatment centres show that patients are rarely admitted for heroin use . Some heroin use has been reported in border regions with Myanmar and Thailand and among some groups of refugees (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, 2004a) . Anecdotal accounts of heroin injection in some social groups in Vientiane have also been reported (Centre for Harm Reduction, 2004) . The overall number of IDUs in Lao PDR is considered to be low . Aceijas et al . (2004) suggest there are about 8000 (C .I . 5000– 11,000) regular injectors in Lao PDR, about 0 .28 per cent of the population . Recent evidence suggests that injecting could be increasing, with some studies reporting a shift toward injecting ATS (Centre for Harm Reduction, 2004) and blackwater opium (Reid & Costigan, 2002) . To date, no studies have been conducted that focus on IDU issues in Lao PDR (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, 2004c) . Data collection systems in place The opium survey implemented in partnership between the UNODC and the Lao PDR Government is the only systematic annual research that is conducted into drug issues in Lao PDR . The opium survey researches opium cultivation, use and sale in 11 opiumproducing provinces in northern and central Lao PDR . Opportunistic surveys have been conducted in Lao PDR looking at drug use, through the assistance of UNODC . School surveys were conducted in 1999 and 2002 . Other studies have investigated drug use in specific risk groups in Vientiane . The Lao PDR National Commission for Drug Control and Supervision (LCDC), in collaboration with the UNODC Lao PDR office, have recently commenced the development of a national drug information system . The project is only in its infancy, with the first training workshop being conducted in Vientiane in March 2005 . The goal of the information system is to develop national data collection networks based on the UNODC’s ‘Integrated Drug Information System’ toolkit (United States Embassy, 2005) . According to the National Drug Demand Policy (Government of Lao PDR, 2003), the LCDC is also responsible for setting up a drug information clearing house in Vientiane which will collate existing data on ATS use, treatment utilisation as well as drug-related mortality . The current status of the clearing house is unknown and enquiries made about its status were not answered . 177 Country profiles: Laos
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Illicit Drug use in the Asia Pacific Region - Burnet Institute

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