Myanmar, the world's second largest opium producer

November 02, 2012, Myanmar is the world's second largest opium producer after Afghanistan, according to the United Nations. Shan and Kachin states, affected by longstanding conflicts between the military and ethnic rebel groups, have seen production rise, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime has found. Opium poppy cultivation in Southeast Asia has doubled since 2006 because of higher demand for heroin in Asia, especially China. The UN report notes that opiate users in East Asia and the Pacific Ocean region account for about one quarter of the world's total. China alone has more than a million registered heroin users, but that figure could be much higher. With prices rising, cultivation in Laos soared 66 per cent to 6,800 hectares in 2012, and by 17 per cent to 51,000 hectares in Myanmar, primarily on the border region with Laos and Thailand, the infamous 'Golden Triangle'. A few years ago, Myanmar adopted a plan to eradicate opium by 2014, but the UN study, which used satellite, helicopter and ground surveys, suggests the target is falling away.