In the remote mountains of northern Laos, a profusion of red and white poppies is once more in evidence, in defiance of a strict government ban on opium cultivation, in force since 2002. Hill-tribe farmers in Luang Nam Tha province, after several hungry years without their traditional cash crop, have smiles on their faces again. The same pattern can be observed in other provinces, such as Houaphan, where in one district alone poppies are blooming in eight out of 11 villages. Farm-gate prices for opium have soared to $1,400 a kilo as other commodity prices have tumbled. So there is plenty to smile about.rnAmerica and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) had pushed the communist rulers of this poor landlocked nation into a crackdown on opium cultivation. In 2006 UNODC'S head, Antonio Maria Costa, triumphantly reported that after three years of eradication Laos, which used to produce about 100 tonnes of opium a year, was now, like Thailand, officially opium-free.
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机译：在老挝北部偏远的山区，红色和白色罂粟再次出现，这违反了自2002年以来政府对鸦片种植的严格禁令。琅勃拉邦塔省的山地部落农民在几次饥饿之后多年没有传统的经济作物，再次笑容满面。在其他省份也可以观察到相同的模式，例如胡阿潘省（Houaphan），在一个地区中，仅11个村庄中就有8个村庄开花罂粟。由于其他大宗商品价格下跌，鸦片的农场门禁价格已飙升至每公斤1400美元。因此，有很多笑容。美国和联合国毒品和犯罪问题办公室（毒品和犯罪问题办公室）将这个贫穷内陆国家的共产主义统治者推向了鸦片种植的镇压。 2006年，毒品和犯罪问题办公室负责人安东尼奥·玛丽亚·科斯塔（Antonio Maria Costa）凯歌报道，在消灭了三年之后，老挝曾经像泰国一样，过去每年只能生产100吨鸦片，如今已像泰国一样正式不含鸦片。
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