Epilogue

Abstract

In November of 1943, the United Kingdom announced the total prohibition of opium smoking in all British protected territories in the Far East, including Burma.¹ This announcement had little practical effect however, as Burma had been under Japanese control for more than a year at that point. When the Japanese army brought the Karenni and Wa states under their control in December of 1943, Japan announced a three-year opium abolition plan for the area. Although at least one author credits the Japanese authorities with sincerity of intention, it is notable that the first step in this plan involved reopening opium dens “to determine who the addicts were”.²