2006年VOA标准英语-UN Drug Agency Reports Sharp Fall in Golden Tri

By Ron Corben
Bangkok
16 October 2006

The United Nations' drug agency says there has been another sharp fall in opium¹ cultivation² in the area of Southeast Asia known as the Golden Triangle, where Burma, Thailand and Laos meet. But, U.N. officials are now concerned about the increased use of methamphetamine-type stimulants³ across the region.

 
Photo: Scott Bobb (VOA)
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime - the UNODC - says its annual survey of opium production in the Golden Triangle region shows poppy cultivation there fell by 29 percent this year.

Burma, the main poppy growing country of the region, reported a more than 30 percent decline in areas under cultivation from the previous year.

Burma is the second largest opium grower globally after Afghanistan, which accounts for more than 90 percent of the world's supply of heroin⁴.

Burma's northern Shan State produces 90 percent of the country's opium. The ethnic⁵ Wa community there declared a total ban on opium cultivation and trade last year.

The decrease in Burmese production means that a plan to eradicate⁶ opium in the Golden Triangle by 2014 remains⁷ on target. The region's share of world poppy cultivation dropped from 66 percent in 1998 to 12 percent last year.

But Leik Boonwaat, the UNODC Representative in Laos, said recently there is still a need for international support for development programs to assist opium growers to move toward alternative crops.

He said, "There is a need to provide the relief to former opium farmers, in order to enable them to adapt to new alternative livelihoods⁸ or new ways of life, and it's also important to enable the national poverty reduction programs to be able to incorporate all these areas."

 
The UNODC report says the two other countries in the Golden Triangle, Thailand and Laos, are almost opium free.

But the gains from the decrease in opium cultivation are being offset⁹ by a rise in methamphetamine and ecstasy¹⁰ abuse in Southeast Asia. A recent report by the UNODC found that methamphetamine is a concern across the region.

The UNODC's Leik says, in Laos, methamphetamine is a particular problem among young people.

"For methamphetamine in Laos, it's mostly targeting the youth - school children. We have children as young as 12 that are addicted¹¹, and this is causing great concern. We see it in the schools, we're seeing it in urban areas, we're seeing it in rural areas," he said.

Factories producing methamphetamine-type stimulants are found along the Burma-Thailand border, with millions of tablets finding their way onto the Thai market each year.

1 opium   

n.鸦片；adj.鸦片的

参考例句：

• That man gave her a dose of opium.那男人给了她一剂鸦片。
• Opium is classed under the head of narcotic.鸦片是归入麻醉剂一类的东西。

2 cultivation   

n.耕作，培养，栽培（法），养成

参考例句：

• The cultivation in good taste is our main objective.培养高雅情趣是我们的主要目标。
• The land is not fertile enough to repay cultivation.这块土地不够肥沃，不值得耕种。

3 stimulants   

n.兴奋剂( stimulant的名词复数 )；含兴奋剂的饮料；刺激物；激励物

参考例句：

• Coffee and tea are mild stimulants. 咖啡和茶是轻度兴奋剂。
• At lower concentrations they may even be stimulants of cell division. 在浓度较低时，它们甚至能促进细胞分裂。 来自辞典例句

4 heroin   

n.海洛因

参考例句：

• Customs have made their biggest ever seizure of heroin.海关查获了有史以来最大的一批海洛因。
• Heroin has been smuggled out by sea.海洛因已从海上偷运出境。

5 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

6 eradicate   

v.根除，消灭，杜绝

参考例句：

• These insects are very difficult to eradicate.这些昆虫很难根除。
• They are already battling to eradicate illnesses such as malaria and tetanus.他们已经在努力消灭疟疾、破伤风等疾病。

7 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

8 livelihoods   

生计，谋生之道( livelihood的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• First came the earliest individualistic pioneers who depended on hunting and fishing for their livelihoods. 走在最前面的是早期的个人主义先驱者，他们靠狩猎捕鱼为生。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
• With little influence over policies, their traditional livelihoods are threatened. 因为马赛族人对政策的影响力太小，他们的传统生计受到了威胁。

9 offset   

n.分支，补偿；v.抵消，补偿

参考例句：

• Their wage increases would be offset by higher prices.他们增加的工资会被物价上涨所抵消。
• He put up his prices to offset the increased cost of materials.他提高了售价以补偿材料成本的增加。

10 ecstasy   

n.狂喜，心醉神怡，入迷

参考例句：

• He listened to the music with ecstasy.他听音乐听得入了神。
• Speechless with ecstasy,the little boys gazed at the toys.小孩注视着那些玩具，高兴得说不出话来。

11 addicted   

adj.沉溺于....的，对...上瘾的

参考例句：

• He was addicted to heroin at the age of 17.他17岁的时候对海洛因上了瘾。
• She's become addicted to love stories.她迷上了爱情小说。