Fed up with growing opium.

• Position: Villagers in Lao People's Democratic Republic

He is an energetic and youthful looking man of 67 years who lives in Keo Pratu village, Nonghet District in the Xieng Khoang province in the Lao People's Democratic Republic. And he tells visitors from the United Nations International Drug Control Programme (UNDCP) that he was "fed up" with growing opium.

Sitting in his home in Nonghet, Mr. Kur describes how his Hmong family had moved here from Sam Yom border area some 70 years ago. He was born in Nonghet, one of seven children. Now, he is the only one remaining in the village. Three of his siblings live in Phonsavanh, a four-hour drive away, and one sister lives even farther away - in the United States. And he himself has eight daughters and two sons.

According to Mr. Kur, he and his family before him had been cultivating opium for about a century, but "it is getting more and more difficult to sell". And recently, he continues, "the district officials here have made it clear that anyone caught selling opium will go to jail". He points out that anyone selling opium in Viet Nam risks the death penalty, adding that "basically, the risks are getting too high". He says he still enjoys a pipe about once a week and that it might be all right to continue to grow it for one's own consumption, "but if you sell it, that's another matter!"

In the face of this official reaction to the trade, Mr. Kur says opium prices had fallen to Kip 140,000 ($107 at K1,300/US$1) for a kilo of first quality. For third quality, the price is just under $58 per kilo. He recalls the price in 1995/1996 was about Kip 350,000 per kilo ($357 at the exchange rates prevailing then).

In addition, Mr. Kur notes that growing opium is very time consuming work. "It takes such a lot of effort to get a kilo of the stuff!", he laughs. We go out back of the fenced house to look at his 300 square metre kitchen garden area. There are orange and lime trees there, a grape vine tucked behind the house and some 100 square metres of asparagus, with about the same area devoted to squash.

How did this happen?

In 1993/1994, an agronomist working for the UNDCP-supported Nonghet project at the time, Seng Hkun, was attracted to the idea that asparagus might grow in the area, and he brought some seeds from...