The world says we are wicked when our people grow opium. But when we stop it, the Burmese military government, although it has done nothing to stop in areas under its control, is praised for doing a good job.

– A Wa official from Shan State Special Region – 2 quoted in “Wa farmers demand return to poppy cultivation”, Shan Herald Agency for News, 23 April 2008. For those who are intereted in trawling the archives, some useful New Mandala coverage of this issue is available here.