It always fascinates me how the most reactionary of governments are often responsible for so much of the illicit drug trade. You’d think that the law and order types — even if their version is perverse — would have a real handle on drugs like cocaine and opium. In Myanmar, the poppies are blooming.

From The BBC:

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime says there has been a worrying rise in the extent of opium cultivation in Burma.

According to a new UN survey, the amount of land used for growing opium has increased by almost 50% since 2006.

The UN drugs agency says the cultivation of opium poppies has risen in Burma for the third year in a row.

This is undermining efforts to rid the country of its dependence on profits from illicit crops, it says.

Over 31,000 hectares of land are now devoted to growing opium, an increase of 11% compared to one year ago.

To help but that number in perspective, 31,000 hectares is 76,602 acres or 119.7 square miles.

Earlier this year Mother Jones reported on opium in Afghanistan with these numbers: 18 million pounds of opium from 476,710 acres or 745 square miles. As a cash crop, an opium farmer gets about $2,105 per acres. That’s compared to $221 per acre for wheat.

No wonder there’s so much marijuana grown in Meigs County, Ohio.