Myanmar parliament passes urgent motion on drug fight

Myanmar's parliamentary House of Representatives (Lower House) has passed an urgent motion calling on the government to support mass participation in fight against drugs, according to an official report Friday.

The motion, submitted by a parliamentarian on Thursday, also called for protecting citizens from possible attacks and extending necessary assistance to them, referring to a recent attack on destroyers of opium plantations by growers in northernmost Kachin state.

According to the report, while destroying opium plantations in Kanpaikthi and Sadone areas early on Thursday, Pat Jasan anti-drug network was attacked by a group of opium growers and local militia, leaving two dead, and 32 hospitalized. About 40 attackers were arrested.

Pat Jasan group was formed in 2013 with local Kachin ethnic people and has been engaging in dissemination of knowledge about drugs, prohibition of drug use and drug trade as well as in drug destruction.