Myanmar News Articles: Burn one down: Burma, Thailand and Pakistan set fire to several hundred million ...

Army officials burn drugs worth £160millon near Bangkok in Thailand
Meanwhile massive drug bonfires were also lit in Pakistan and Burma
Events marked UN's 'International Day' against drug use and trafficking
Annual report also released showing how drugs are consumed globally
Cannabis use is down, but more people than ever seek help for the drug
Meanwhile global consumption of methamphetamine is steadily rising

By
John Hall

Published:
11:52 GMT, 26 June 2014

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Updated:
11:53 GMT, 26 June 2014

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Countries around the world have set fire to several hundred million pounds worth of narcotics to mark the UN's International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking.

Officers set light to huge piles of drugs at a public event in the capital Rangoon this morning, in a clear message that drug trafficking will not be tolerated in the country.

Narcotic burning events were also held in Pakistan and Thailand as the UN released its latest annual report into international drug use and trafficking.

Up in smoke: Officers set light to huge piles of drugs at a public event in the capital Rangoon this morning, in a clear message that drug trafficking will not be tolerated in the country

Cost: The total value of the narcotics burned in Burma's capital Rangoon this morning totalled £80million

Burn: A Pakistani paramilitary soldier torches drugs in the country and neighbouring Afghanistan during at a ceremony near Peshawar to mark the UN's International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking

Statement: The mass burnings - including this one in Burma - come as a UN report concluded that up to 200,000 people around the world are killed as a result of illicit drug consumption every year

The total value of the narcotics burned in Burma's capital Rangoon this morning totalled £80million.

Meanwhile in Bangkok, Thailand, 3,094 kilograms of illegal drugs - including methamphetamine, heroin, ecstasy, cocaine, opium, codeine and marijuana - were burned in a high-powered oven.

The products had an estimated street value of £160million.

In Pakistan huge sacks of opium were also destroyed, sending huge clouds of thick black smoke high into the air. The drugs were seized from rural farms in the country and in neighbouring Afghanistan.

Drug burnings also took place in the Philippines.

Before the flames: A policeman in Burma checks on a pile of red methamphetamine pills before they are set alight at a public event held in the country's capital city Rangoon

Destruction: An observer in Burma takes photographs of a pile of drugs that were later publicly destroyed to mark the UN's International Day against Drug Abuse

Keeping watch: Declining risk perception and increased availability can lead to wider use and to more young people being introduced to the drug, the UN said in its account of the international narcotics situation

Control: A police officer in Burma takes action to ensure the £80million drug bonfire does not get out on hand. Both the flames and the fumes were of concern to local authorities

The mass
burnings comes as a UN report concluded that up to 200,000 people around the
world are killed as a result of illicit drug consumption every year.

Declining
risk perception and increased availability can lead to wider use and to
more young people being introduced to the drug, the body said in its
account of the international narcotics situation.

Global cannabis appears to have decreased, however, reflecting a decline in some western and central European countries.

However the production and consumption of amphetamines is on the rise, more than doubling since 2010.

Despite
the global decline in cannabis use, more American than ever are seeking
help for problems related to the use of marijuana.

Guards: Thai police officers keep watch as narcotics officials prepare some 3,094 kilograms of illegal drugs with a street value of £160million for incineration in a giant oven

Value: Bags of methamphetamine pills worth millions of pounds are photographed before they were placed in an incinerator near Bangkok

The anti-drug events in Thailand (pictured) saw an estimated £160million of pills destroyed in seconds

Gone for good: Thai police workers put a bin full of methamphetamine pills into an incinerator

The report said that it was still too early to understand
the true impact of recent cannabis legalisation in the U.S. states of
Washington and Colorado and South American country Uruguay.

In
December, Uruguay's Congress approved a law allowing the cultivation and
sale of marijuana, making it the first country to do so, with the aim
of wresting the business from criminals.

The experiment is being
keenly watched by Latin American peers at a time when the U.S.-led war
on drugs faces mounting criticism. Success in Uruguay could fuel momentum for legalisation elsewhere.

Regarding
other narcotics, a surge in opium production in Afghanistan - where the
area under cultivation jumped by 36 percent in 2013 - was 'a setback'.

Meanwhile the global availability of cocaine fell as production declined
from 2007 to 2012.

Last year, the worldwide output of heroin 'rebounded to the high levels witnessed' in 2008 and 2011, the report added.

'Up to 200,000 people die every year due to illicit drugs,' UNODC executive director Yury Fedotov said in a statement.