HOUAPHAN PROVINCE, Laos — In a hut on the top of a fog-licked mountain in northern Laos, Vo Pali is getting high. The flame rolls over the softened mush as Vo Pali takes four, five deep drags. “People who live in these remote borders are very poor,” Onphiuw Khongviengthong, permanent secretary of the LCDC— the Laos drug control authority — told AFP in a rare interview with foreign media. ‘Cash and fast cars’While opium cultivation could eventually make little economic sense, Laos’ more urgent drug problem is with methamphetamine. But the cycle of addiction keeps opium farmers in business.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer September 09, 2018 05:03 UTC