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Show , 2 TV gait Lake Tribute, Sunday, Jjn 17, 1973 .Vt J Laos Grows e 1 ' A t Barely Enough Opium for Its Own Golden Haze Mr 1 t- Ji - h 'j. f , . i- Cy Richard Blystone Associated Press Writer By An opium and sits addict on idly stares blankly Laotian street. Y I I The fortunes of war and a Laotian crackdown are behind Laos transition from exporter to unporter. But experts say if conditions change, politics, public oprnion and private greed could easily inject new life into the drug trade. l!.S.-Laotia- For the tune being, however, Laos opium tycoons are reported lying low, having shifted their refineries to nearby Burma and their routes to the highways of Thailand. Those traders who persist have had to resort to more and more sophisticated means of concealment. Meanwhile, the US Aid Agency is trying to persuade mountain tribesmen to forsake their traditional opium crops for nee, corn or silk worms The fight is far from over. Legal Until 1)71 Opium was legal in Laos until autumn 1971 when the Vientiane government passed an antidrug law after considerable prodding from the U S was which government, alarmed over the GI drug epidemic in Vietnam The law, which prohibited opium growing, processing, trafficking and use, was unpopular with some of Amer- staunchest otherwise icas fnends, including the Meo tribesmen who staffed the U.S paid mercenary army. For years opium was Laos biggest business. Wilderness poppy fields in the north and the "golden triangle border area of Laos, Thailand and Burma produced some 700 50 to 70 percent tons a year of the worlds illicit opium supply. Laos share was estimated at roughly 100 tons Half Used at Home Traditionally more than half the crop was consumed by the hill tribes that painstakingly planted, weeded and harvested it. Most of the rest found its way to smokers in Asia. In the late 1960s the g expatriate Chinese who ran the trade found a nch market among bored and disillusioned Amencan soldiers in entei-pnsm- Vietnam. of the quantities Huge gummy sap, once chiefly rendered into opium or crude heroin for smoking, now were refined into the fluffy white Pity the poor poppy princes. War and a crackdown have dried up much of n opium. The raid touched off a furor in the assembly and a number of deputies demanded repeal of the law. The assemblyman is still free. heroin, Saigon. The heroin moved by truck and boat, and often by and at U.S. military plane expense both literally and figuratively. Laotian military officers and government officials were among those who prospered. U.S. officials won't mention any names, but they say opium still has fnends ui Laos g Raided Official's Home Armed with the new law, Laotian agents raided a national assemblymans home last summer and confiscated nwre than 20 pounds of heroin ami more than 60 pounds of Information from aerial photographs, helicopter overe flights and inspections indicates last years opium on-sit- production m Laos was aboul 20 tons, U S officials say They say that is less than enough to support the habits of Laos own 25,000 addicts The furor might have been greater had the market not been drying up so fast. There were more than 200,000 GIs m Vietnam when the U S Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs sent its first agent to Vietiane in October, 1971, to recruit help the Laotians agents and set up an agency to raid of "untouchables stashes and refineries. year later the GIs were down tc 35,000 The new narcotics agency, headed by a general, was able to inspect military planes where previous authorities were not. After a spate of raids and seizures, the opium kings were reported to have either quit temporarily or moved out of Laos to eastern Burma. A Few Big Fish Got Weve got quite a few big tish in Laos, said one U S. but official, apparently theyre scared or prudent. The last big seuzure we had it was was in February wrapped in newspapers dated December, 1968 The war itself has been a major factor in restraint of the opium trade. Meo tribesmen whose fields once reddened large areas of northern Laos have been moved wholesale into camps Some 120.000 of the estimated 300,000 Meo are in refugee population settlements, and many others are fighting as mercenaries instead of planting Moreover, some U S . 143 Salt jCakf South Moin , , ; A O , n t , i.' V L- r r tu f,iK 0 ? I i V k t . - ry s -- 4 S 1 P" x ' , t ' - I v a VP. Mt x'. A crop of opium poppies goes up in and villagers of Ban Na flames in Laos begin a new way of Kong W Poppy farmers are out of business as the Laotian government persuades them to grow other crops. life. g opium-growin- Such nches, for the Meo, are not superfluous He needs the money for won to make Elaborate smuggling stratagems are another sign of success, says one official One shipment recently seized was concealed in false bottoms of oil coconut cans, another under the droppings in a chicken cage. The Amencan officials do not claim to have stopped the drug trade, and they concede there are weaknesses in the governments program It is difficult to find top agents. tools, cloth to keep off the mountain cold and silver for ornahis tribes traditional ments Most mountain tribes frown use by the young But for the old it seems to them a sensible way to dull the pains of age and die in a pleasant golden haze. The attitude of many Is that if other cultures rcnt handle opium oroperly that is thew problem. on opium T7 A n r ?C? JEWELERS LmMkvgili A hamburger made with a quarter pound of 100 beef. Thats all beef ... no Hler. Served with ketchup, mustard, pickles and chopped onion on a toasted sesame seed bun. offi- cials say the Pathet Lao and North Vietnamese who dominate 80 percent of the countryside aie as much against opium as the government. Other informed sources say more so. TJie Opium, to the mountain people, is medicine, social convention and, m an barter literally economy, cash. Depnving a Meo of his oilopium is like depnving an man of his depletion allowance. An tnbesman can earn as much as $200 a year, almost twice as much as the annual average income in Indochina. Prices Climbing sa authorities Narcotics seizures of narcotics coming in outweigh those going out; opium prices are climbing on the illicit market, and no shipments of acetic anhydride, a needed to bulky chemical make opium into heroin, have been seized since 1971 shipments, some- times called snow. The favonte route was from the hills, through Vientiane to one official says, because the job is unpopular and dangi-ou- s and pays no more than a comfortable clerkship Other sources say that some raiding parties have found their targets recently flown, indicating the agency a not leakproof. Despite a recent senes of raids on Vientiane opium dens, a pipeful of forgetfulness is still easy to find m this easygoing capital. And one traveler told of meeting a Laotian dentist who journeys into the countryside bartenng gold teeth for opium Drug Literally Cash Laos biggest business: opium. Some growers have turned to rice. But opium, to the mountain people, is medicine, social convention and cash. And come poppy planting time. . . U S d ( . - VIENTIANE Laos, once one of the big three of illicit opium production, can no longer support even its own drug habit, say U S officials here j 8 37 1 m O i 2ribonf Diol 524 00 ViK ttf' EstobiisNao Aoril IS, 1671, issued every momma tv the Keorrts Tribune Solt Lobe City, Utoh Coroorotion, 14110 Second (loss postoge paid at Salt Lokt City, Utah All unsolicited articles, manuscripts tetters ondoictures sent to The Solt take Tribune ore it at the owner s risk end Kearns Tribune Cor porot.oh assumes no responsibility tor their custody or reirn SUBSCRIPTION RATE! 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