Illicit Drug use in the Asia Pacific Region - Burnet Institute

Situational analysis of illicit drug issues and responses in the Asia–Pacific region
vi
Acknowledgements
The researchers wish to acknowledge the
support and cooperation of all of the people
who made valuable contributions to our
understandings of drug use and responses in
the countries reviewed . The team is grateful
to all the colleagues who reviewed drafts of
the country profiles and provided valuable
comments:
Pacific: Professor Mac Marshall,
Nic MacClellan, Judith Leveillee, Ruth
Holland, Harley Stanton, Shaun Evans
Cambodia: Graham Shaw
China: Liu Zhimin
Hong Kong: Yuet Cheung
Indonesia: Elizabeth Pisani
and Elizabeth Emrys
Laos: Damien Hoy
Macao: Celeste Vong
Malaysia: Adeeba bte Kamarulzaman
Myanmar: Willie DeMaere
and Dr Myo Lwin
Philippines: Carmina A . Aquino, M .D .,
Lheng Matibag
Thailand: Nick Thompson
Vietnam: Khuat Thi Hai Oanh, Peter Higgs
and Nick Walsh
The authors would like to acknowledge
the advisory roles of Professor Nick Crofts,
Associate Professor Alison Ritter and Dr David
Jacka . The team is also very appreciative of
the research assistance provided by Helena
Faulkner .
Finally, the support of the ANCD’s Asia–
Pacific Drug Issues Committee is sincerely
appreciated .
Executive summary
Context
In October 2003 the Prime Minister announced
that the Australian National Council on Drugs
(ANCD) had been asked to increase Australia’s
involvement throughout the Asia–Pacific
region, specifically to promote the prevention
and reduction of drug use, and treatment
for those with drug problems . To provide
appropriate advice to the Australian Government,
the ANCD formed a committee of
individuals with a broad range of experience
and expertise in drug policy and in Asia and
the Pacific . The mission of the Asia–Pacific
Drug Issues Committee (APDIC) is to advise
the ANCD and the Australian Government
on ways to maximise Australia’s response to
and leadership and impact on Asia–Pacific
regional illicit drug issues .
In order to provide a foundation for its work,
in November 2004 APDIC contracted the
Burnet Institute’s Centre for Harm Reduction
and Turning Point Alcohol and Drug Centre
to undertake a situational analysis of illicit
drug issues and responses in the Asia–
Pacific region .
The project was desk-based; data sources
included published and unpublished literature
and information from key informants
and regional institutions . For the purposes
of this project the Asia–Pacific region was
deemed to include the countries involved in
the ASEAN and China Cooperative Operations
in Response to Dangerous Drugs (ACCORD),
and those Pacific nations of interest to
AusAID . The situational analysis focused on
the unsanctioned use of all illicit drugs and
directly related harms, with consideration
of pharmaceutical drugs limited to their
intentional misuse .
The body of this report provides a brief summary
of the current illicit drug use situation,
country responses to illicit drug issues, and
Australian and international involvement
in relation to illicit drugs for each country .
More detailed analysis about each country,
complete with referencing, is contained in
Appendix A; and Australian and international
project information, available at the time of
the research, is outlined in Appendix B . The
executive summary gives a broad overview
of these data with findings for Asia and the
Pacific presented separately .
The first thing to note about illicit drug
production and use in Asia is its scale — the
amount of illicit drugs produced, especially
heroin and amphetamine-type substances
(ATS), is measurable in many tonnes per year;
numbers of people using and dependent on
illicit drugs run into the millions across the
region . Issues of such magnitude challenge
the capacity of developed nations, let alone
those that are attempting to hasten social
and economic development, often from
a low base .
Second, there is a profound impact on every
level and sector of society of the illicit drug
trade and use . Some aspects of this impact
are especially iniquitous to the attainment
of development goals, such as corruption,
which are commonly linked with the drug
trade and can be particularly destructive in
regard to law enforcement .
vii
Executive summary