0003160 G.F. 316
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M:Stuart.
Secretariat for Home Affairs,
Hong Kong.
See
March, 1973. Comments
with
The Problem of Narcotic Drugs in Hong Kong
Report of the Commissioner for Narcotics, Hong Kong,
on his visit to Burma, Laos and Thailand
26th February to 14th March, 1973
Mr.
Introduction
1.
As foreshadowed in a letter from H.3. the Governor to Sir Duncan Watson, K.C.M.G., Deputy Under Secretary of State, F.C.O., reference L/M 4/73 in SCR 4/1316/72 of the 22nd January, 1973, enclosing the first two of five papers about the drug problem in Hong Kong, the Commissioner for Narcotics visited H.M. Ambassadors in Burma, Laos and Thailand between the 26th February and the 14th March, 1973 to discuss with them and their staffs the second paper 'International Considerations'. He also took the opportunity to hold informal talks with United States Missions in these three countries and with officers from the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs (B.N.D.D.)
2*
The purpose of this report is to summarize the substance of these discussions in the light of the second paper 'International Considerations' and having regard to the written comments received from H.M. Ambassadors.
Burma
3.
The first priority of the Burmese Government is to stamp out the insurgency plaguing the country and to recover effective control of those areas which at present are largely beyond the reach of the Central Government in Rangoon. These areas amount to not less than 30 percent of the country and include most of the principal opium growing regions. The close interwoven relation- ship between opium which buys the arms to keep the various groups of insurgents actively in business is very much a life issue in Burma today.
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