Film backdrop image for The Opium War (2022)

20224 minPGnews

Addiction Historical Events

The Opium War

20224 minPGnews

Kachin State in Myanmar has been fighting for autonomy since 1961 amid rising opioid use.

Addiction Historical Events

Genres

Channel: Journeyman Pictures

The Opium War

2022• 4 minPG

Synopsis

Kachin State in Myanmar has been fighting for autonomy since 1961 amid rising opioid use.

Synopsis

In Myanmar's Kachin State, the fight for autonomy has been ongoing since 1961. This region is home to an ethnic group that constitutes three percent of Myanmar's population. As the civil war intensifies, opioid use rises dramatically. Their aggressive tactics, such as destroying poppy fields, result in armed clashes between groups. Historically, drugs were sold openly, with local police often ignoring the issue. A Kachin man shares the devastating impact of addiction, stating, 'There are drug addicts in every family. My father and my grandparents died of drugs.' This situation highlights the intersection of conflict and drug abuse in Kachin State.

Comments

What are people saying?

Play More Like This

Between Two Stones - Nepal (2007)

Between Two Stones - Nepal

More than 13,000 lives were lost during Nepal's civil war, which began in February 1996 and involved a violent struggle between the monarchy and Maoist rebels.

Between Two Stones - Nepal

China's Drug Problem Is Growing (2007)

China's Drug Problem Is Growing

Up to 70,000 narcotics addicts live in Yunnan province, with some areas reporting an addict in every second family.

China's Drug Problem Is Growing

Who Is The Drug King of the Golden Triangle? (2011)

Who Is The Drug King of the Golden Triangle?

Khun Sa commands a private army of 20,000 men, including a thousand child soldiers, in his stronghold of Ho Mong in Shan State, Burma.

Who Is The Drug King of the Golden Triangle?

Afghanistan is the Heroin Capital of the World (2016)

Afghanistan is the Heroin Capital of the World

Last year, Afghanistan accounted for 93% of the world's heroin production, as counter-narcotics efforts struggle against a powerful drug trade.

Afghanistan is the Heroin Capital of the World

On the Hunt with the Drug Vigilantes | Undercover Asia (2025)

On the Hunt with the Drug Vigilantes | Undercover Asia

Kachin State in Myanmar faces a heroin epidemic fueled by government-backed production, prompting local Christian vigilantes to combat the crisis.

On the Hunt with the Drug Vigilantes | Undercover Asia

Is Myanmar Irrevocably Dependent on Drugs? (2018)

Is Myanmar Irrevocably Dependent on Drugs?

US and Thai troops tackle the drug crisis in Myanmar's Golden Triangle region.

Is Myanmar Irrevocably Dependent on Drugs?

Inside Myanmar's Soaring Heroin Trade (2016)

Inside Myanmar's Soaring Heroin Trade

Myanmar's opium cultivation, now the second largest globally, continues to thrive despite efforts for peace and a shift towards alternative crops like coffee.

Inside Myanmar's Soaring Heroin Trade

Border Patrol With China's Toughest Drug Squad (2013)

Border Patrol With China's Toughest Drug Squad

Myanmar has long been a major source of the world's heroin, now also producing new drugs that reach as far as Australia through China.

Border Patrol With China's Toughest Drug Squad

The War on Drugs: Is This the World's Most Dangerous Drug Trade? (2026)

The War on Drugs: Is This the World's Most Dangerous Drug Trade?

In Southeast Asia, opium production plays a crucial role in the heroin trade, as explored through the perspectives of an opium master and a UN drug enforcement officer.

The War on Drugs: Is This the World's Most Dangerous Drug Trade?

Influenza: The Hundred Year Hunt to Cure the Deadliest Disease in History (2019)

Influenza: The Hundred Year Hunt to Cure the Deadliest Disease in History

The 1918 influenza pandemic killed more people worldwide than combat during World War One.

Influenza: The Hundred Year Hunt to Cure the Deadliest Disease in History

Apollo and the Oracle of Delphi (2025)

Apollo and the Oracle of Delphi

In ancient Greece, the Oracle of Delphi served as a pivotal religious site where priestesses delivered prophecies attributed to the god Apollo.

Apollo and the Oracle of Delphi

Why Did Nasa Secretly Send 6 Men To The Bottom Of The Ocean In 1969? (2026)

Why Did Nasa Secretly Send 6 Men To The Bottom Of The Ocean In 1969?

In July 1969, NASA conducted a secret experiment involving six men in the PX-15 submarine, exploring the depths of the Gulf Stream for 30 days.

Why Did Nasa Secretly Send 6 Men To The Bottom Of The Ocean In 1969?

Explore The Opium War

Where else to watch

Warning: This Drug May Kill You (2017)

Warning: This Drug May Kill You

2017•1h•★6.9TMDB

Four families share their experiences with opioid addiction, revealing the personal toll of a crisis that claims over 130 lives each day in the U.S.

Warning: This Drug May Kill You

Myanmar: The Chin against the Junta (2023)

Myanmar: The Chin against the Junta

Since February 2021, the Chin have taken up arms in a civil war against Myanmar's military junta to defend their territory and identity.

Myanmar: The Chin against the Junta

Century of Smoke (2019)

Century of Smoke

A young family man in Laos spends all his time smoking opium, as his community relies on opium farming for survival in the jungle.

Century of Smoke

Bertha Lutz: Women and the U.N. Charter (2021)

Bertha Lutz: Women and the U.N. Charter

2021•1h38m•★10.0TMDB

Bertha Lutz played a key role in ensuring women's rights were included in the discussions that shaped the U.N. Charter in 1945.

Bertha Lutz: Women and the U.N. Charter

Browse more like this

On the Hunt with the Drug Vigilantes | Undercover Asia (2025)

On the Hunt with the Drug Vigilantes | Undercover Asia

Kachin State in Myanmar faces a heroin epidemic fueled by government-backed production, prompting local Christian vigilantes to combat the crisis.

On the Hunt with the Drug Vigilantes | Undercover Asia

No digital watch option in your country

Blood Amber (2017)

Blood Amber

2017•1h35m•★6.0TMDB

Local miners in Myanmar face daily threats from the Kachin Independence Army while working under harsh conditions to extract valuable amber.

Jade Miners (2015)

Jade Miners

2015•1h44m•★5.0TMDB

Thousands of workers risk their lives in abandoned jade mines in Kachin State, Burma, amid ongoing civil conflict and lawlessness.

Changing the Needle (1982)

Changing the Needle

A quarter of a million drug addicts emerged in South Vietnam as a direct consequence of the Vietnam War, prompting a unique approach to rehabilitation.

Changing the Needle

Myanmar Anatomy (2024)

Myanmar Anatomy

Three locations in Myanmar serve as backdrops for voices of activists who fled the country, revealing aspects of its complex history.

Myanmar Anatomy

Cherry Ferry (2024)

Cherry Ferry

Since June 2023, civil war has erupted in Myanmar, intensifying the suffering of its people as director Midi returns to his homeland after years away.

Born Warriors (2014)

Born Warriors

Lethwei, an ancient form of bare-knuckle fighting, has survived through decades of military rule in Myanmar, supported by a dedicated community of fighters and trainers.

The Bad Man (2021)

The Bad Man

A young man from Kachin, Myanmar, recounts his violent past and military life while facing the choices that lie ahead.

Image of an Assassination: A New Look at the Zapruder Film (1998)

Image of an Assassination: A New Look at the Zapruder Film

1998•1h28m•★7.6TMDB

Abraham Zapruder's footage of President John F. Kennedy's assassination in Dallas on November 22, 1963, is digitally remastered to reveal new details and its impact on public perception.

Image of an Assassination: A New Look at the Zapruder Film

Is this your film?

If you made this film or hold the rights to it, we'd like to talk. We can license it and pay you a share of what it earns.

License it with us →