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Myanmar's Jade Trade, A Lucrative But Deadly, HIV-ridden Industry
International Business Times ^ | September 27 2013 4:00 PM | Sophie Song

Posted on 09/28/2013 3:56:16 PM PDT by Pan_Yan

Myanmar is the world’s primary source of top-grade jade, but the jade mining industry in the Southeast Asian nation remains mired in a humanitarian catastrophe two years after the reform government took over control -- tens of thousands of workers are exploited and heroin is abused on an unprecedented scale, creating the world’s largest HIV-infected community.

...

For less than the price of a beer, an injectionist administers the drug directly into the vein of a miner, delivering as many as 800 separate injections from the same dirty needle. Large quantities of the drug are provided by the mine owners, who pay their addicted workers with a daily fix.

An estimated 500,000 miners are paid this way, some consuming as much as 10 grams of pure heroin every day. On top of the unsanitary injections, workers also routinely have unsafe sex with prostitutes, creating an HIV pandemic in the region and giving Myanmar the highest rate of HIV infection among drug users in the world -- nine out of 10 addicted workers are HIV positive.

The trade, however, is a lucrative one. The exploitation of the trade yields billions of dollars each year. Both China and Myanmar governments, and the KIA struggle, stand in the way of assistance that NGOs, the United Nations and the World Health Organization can offer to the region, according to the Australian Financial Review.

(Excerpt) Read more at ibtimes.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Health/Medicine; Travel
KEYWORDS: addiction; burma; heroin; hiv; jade; myanmar; slavery
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There are dark, dark corners in this world and I feel very blessed not to live in one.
1 posted on 09/28/2013 3:56:16 PM PDT by Pan_Yan
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To: Pan_Yan
Myanmar: Bye-bye, Burma.

One of the pit-holes of the world.

Back in 1977 I had a student from there. He arrived in the U.S., having been given 24 hours for his family to leave Burma or die. They were allowed one suitcase each. Not much for a lifetime.

The family had the feeling it was coming. They changed all their belongings for gold, to wear. They didn't get out with much but they did have their gold.
One can't get the real price of gold in this country, but it was all they had to use for escape.

They were some of the lucky ones.

2 posted on 09/28/2013 4:06:48 PM PDT by cloudmountain
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To: Pan_Yan

And there are people who want such joy here.


3 posted on 09/28/2013 4:15:02 PM PDT by Darksheare (Try my coffee, first one's free..... Even robots will kill for it!)
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To: Pan_Yan

***There are dark, dark corners in this world ***

The sea-reach of the Thames stretched before us like the beginning of an interminable waterway.......

“And this also,” said Marlow suddenly, “has been one of the dark places of the earth.”-HEART OF DARKNESS by JOSEPH CONRAD


4 posted on 09/28/2013 4:19:41 PM PDT by Ruy Dias de Bivar (Sometimes you need 7+ more ammo. LOTS MORE.)
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To: Pan_Yan

HIV. Do people still believe this myth?

It’s not 1987 anymore. Duesberg was right. These people have a horrible existence. But a magical virus is not the problem.


5 posted on 09/28/2013 4:19:58 PM PDT by Forgotten Amendments (I remember when a President having an "enemies list" was a scandal. Now, they have a kill list.)
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To: Pan_Yan

Are you sure there is not one near you?


6 posted on 09/28/2013 4:59:56 PM PDT by 353FMG ( I don't say whether I am serious or sarcastic -- I respect FReepers too much.)
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To: cloudmountain

There have been many “Hitlers” before Hitler was born and they will be many more.


7 posted on 09/28/2013 6:47:59 PM PDT by cradle of freedom (Long live the Republic !)
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To: cloudmountain

There have been many “Hitlers” before Hitler was born and they will be many more.


8 posted on 09/28/2013 6:47:59 PM PDT by cradle of freedom (Long live the Republic !)
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To: cradle of freedom
There have been many “Hitlers” before Hitler was born and they will be many more.

Amen.

I wish our media would understand that. You would think that there were no other monsters in human history besides Hitler.

9 posted on 09/28/2013 7:41:19 PM PDT by cloudmountain
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To: cloudmountain

What in the world does Jade have to do with HIV??


10 posted on 09/28/2013 7:44:21 PM PDT by GeronL
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To: cloudmountain

What would be another word for a “Hitler” without calling them Hitler? We need a general expression that would stand for a pathological monster leader besides always comparing them to Hitler.


11 posted on 09/28/2013 7:49:03 PM PDT by cradle of freedom (Long live the Republic !)
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To: GeronL
What in the world does Jade have to do with HIV??

Not a clue.

12 posted on 09/28/2013 7:57:53 PM PDT by cloudmountain
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To: cradle of freedom
What would be another word for a “Hitler” without calling them Hitler? We need a general expression that would stand for a pathological monster leader besides always comparing them to Hitler.

Pathological monster leader sounds good.

We USED to use Ghengis Khan as the penultimate pathological monster leader. He did conquer and kill. Another trick of his: after SWOOPING down on a village, town or city, rampaging, burning, killing as many people in a village as could ...he would RETURN to said village a few days later to "finish the job" on those poor souls who had gone into hiding from him.

13 posted on 09/28/2013 8:01:58 PM PDT by cloudmountain
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To: cloudmountain
The Mongols, in their century of conquest, killed about 10% of the world's population. Around 30M.

The Nazis, with all their modern technology and a much larger population to work with, killed only around 20M, or considerably less than 1% of the world's population.

14 posted on 09/29/2013 12:42:39 AM PDT by Sherman Logan (Mark Steyn: "In the Middle East, the enemy of our enemy is also our enemy.")
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To: GeronL

The jade workers are injecting heroin. Needle-sharing is spreading HIV among them.


15 posted on 09/29/2013 4:59:24 AM PDT by Tax-chick (I'm not crazy ... I'm just not you.)
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To: Sherman Logan

Ah, the Khans. They were the biggest killers. I’ve always thought that Christianity showed us a different view of human life; its worth, value for our God-given soul.


16 posted on 09/29/2013 6:24:43 AM PDT by cloudmountain
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To: Sherman Logan

Khan did it the old fashioned low tech way.


17 posted on 10/01/2013 5:18:42 PM PDT by cradle of freedom (Long live the Republic !)
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To: Sherman Logan

Khan did it the old fashioned low tech way.


18 posted on 10/01/2013 5:18:42 PM PDT by cradle of freedom (Long live the Republic !)
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To: cradle of freedom

There are somewhat reliable reports of the Mongols binding the population of a city, say 500k, distributing them among their 50,000 man army. On the signal, everybody chops heads.

A few minutes later, 500,000 corpses.

That’s an efficiency that puts anything in the 20th century to shame. Dresden, Hiroshima, Auschwitz didn’t even come close in body count per minute.

Which just go to show how mistaken those are who think “industrial methods” and modern technology are necessary for mass slaughter. All you need is edged weapons and a lot of willing killers.


19 posted on 10/01/2013 5:23:02 PM PDT by Sherman Logan (Mark Steyn: "In the Middle East, the enemy of our enemy is also our enemy.")
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To: Sherman Logan

Starvation is another highly effective was of killing millions of people. Look at what Stalin and Mao Tse Tung did to their people.


20 posted on 10/01/2013 5:27:47 PM PDT by cradle of freedom (Long live the Republic !)
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