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Ecstasy (mdma) Threatens Rare Cambodian Tree
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» AYkiN0XiA replied on Fri May 21, 2010 @ 2:05pm |
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What could ravers and other all-night clubbers of the world possibly have to do with the increasingly rare Mreah Prew Phnom trees (Cinnamomum parathenoxylon), found in Cambodia’s rainforests? Well, a lot - according to the authorities of the Cambodian ministry of environment and conservationists who have shut down several distilleries which produce a type of oil found both in cosmetics and in the production of MDMA – or more commonly known as ‘ecstasy.’ "The factories had been set up to distill 'sassafras oil'; produced by boiling the roots and the trunk of the exceptionally rare Mreah Prew Phnom trees and exported to neighbouring countries," such as Thailand, Vietnam, USA and China, reports Fauna & Flora International (FFI), the conservation group involved in the recent raids. This rare species of tree is found in Phnom Samkos Wildlife Sanctuary, one of the last wilderness reserves of mainland Southeast Asia. Of course, we are not here to rain on anyone’s party or moralize about personal choices or drug use (whether it's cocaine, weed or ecstasy), but knowledge is powerful and can help people make informed choices that are ultimately more aligned with their personal ethics. Ecstasy’s life cycle: deforestation and water contamination It is evident that the life cycle of sassafras oil production (and by extension, ecstasy) is taking an environmental toll that many may be blissfully unaware of. This is how a tree is turned into colourful, euphoria-inducing pills: - First, the roots are chopped into small blocks and shredded into a fibrous consistency - The shredded roots are then cooked up in large metal vats over a wood fire for a distillation period of at least five days – which requires that a large number of other trees also be chopped down for firewood - Safrole, a colorless or slightly yellow oil, is the resulting product, and is the primary precursor for all manufacture of MDMA (methylenedioxymethamphetamine). "Sassafras oil processing plants are usually located besides streams to provide water for boiling and cooling the distilled oil," says David Bradfield, adviser to the Wildlife Sanctuaries Project of FFI. The oil often leaks into the streams, harming local wildlife and fauna. "There are frequently dead fish and frogs floating in the streams near these distilleries," Bradfield adds. The contaminated water from this area ultimately flows down into the rest of Cambodia through the Mekong and Tonle Sap rivers. Poaching: a side-industry Workers who distill the oil deep in the jungle also often rely on poaching rare animals (tigers, pangolins, peacocks, pythons and wild cats) for food or for extra income on illegal wildlife markets. Poaching threatens the livelihoods of the estimated 12,000-15,000 hunter-gatherers who live in the wildlife sanctuary. Lucrative but illegal In an effort to preserve the rare Mreah Prew Phnom tree, the Cambodian government made the production of sassafras oil illegal in 2004. However, since the purity of Cambodian sassafras oil makes it highly sought after, it remains a lucrative trade, worth millions of dollars. Bradfield warns: "The production of sassafras oil over the last 10 years has severely depleted these trees and if the illicit production isn't stamped out soon, they could become extinct in the near future.” Update » AYkiN0XiA wrote on Fri May 21, 2010 @ 2:07pm [ www.wineandbowties.com ]
The effects of a globalized and interconnected world economy can sometimes be astounding. The fact of the matter is that when you buy something, you almost never have the means to understand how it got there. How much other wild shit is happening globally that we’re just not hearing about? A well-written and detailed article from Global Post’s Sam Campbell: The pulse of dance-club music plays like a jungle beat, as thumping bass notes flirt with flashing lights, liquor and ecstasy of the pharmaceutical kind. Miles and miles away, a little-known multi-billion dollar battle is playing out in the remote wilderness of Cambodia, linking the club scene to the jungle in a more nefarious way. Clandestine factories deep in the Cardamom Mountains of western Cambodia are producing safrole oil — also known as sassafras oil — the main ingredient in the party drug Ecstasy. The recreational drug produces a euphoria its users say is so good even yawning is unparalleled while under its influence. But this euphoria is not without its downside — and not just the toll it takes on the brain, which at least one animal study shows can still be detected seven years from the time of use. There is a growing, and perhaps just as deadly, price being paid by the local environment. Trees containing the viscous, fragrant, safrole oil are felled during the manufacturing process. Their oil-rich roots are mechanically shredded and boiled in large cauldrons. The resulting mixture is then distilled over fires that require enormous quantities of firewood to fuel them. Safrole oil manufacturing is a big business, and as a result, severe deforestation and erosion scar the mountainous areas around the factories. The ramshackle, jury-rigged distilleries are perilous at best, and explosions are not unknown. Nearby streams that provide water for processing are soon fouled by factory waste, their delicate ecosystems poisoned. Even the oil itself is carcinogenic. Though small-scale production of safrole oil for traditional remedies has been going on for centuries in Cambodia, the industrial production of oil destined for the narcotics trade has been ebbing and flowing since the late 1990s. In recent years, authorities have taken action against the safrole industry with some recent high-profile raids highlighting the issue. A June 12, 2009 raid, led jointly by conservation NGO Fauna and Flora International and the Cambodian authorities, netted 142 barrels containing 5.7 tons of sassafras oil. Seized from a secluded house in the isolated village of O’ Kambou in the western Cardamom mountains, the haul could have produced 44 million tablets of Ecstasy with a total street value of $1.2 billion. Most safrole oil distilleries are found in the Phnom Samkos Wildlife Sanctuary, which is located in the Cardamoms and is where the majority of oil-bearing trees remain, according to FFI. FFI and the Cambodian authorities have an ongoing cooperation. They began putting pressure on the industry in 2004, although a December 2008 investigation showed that production had again surged. Aerial flyovers around that time revealed 16 factories in operation. Subsequent raids have now reduced that number to four, said FFI Wildlife Sanctuary Technical Advisor Tim Wood. At the height of the industry in 2006, he added, there were at least 75 distilleries in the area. In June 2008, 1,278 barrels of sassafras oil were destroyed in Pursat province by Australian police, environmental NGOs and Cambodian authorities. Tim Morris, Australian federal police assistant commissioner, said the haul would have produced an estimated 245 million Ecstasy tablets with a street value of $7.6 billion. The western Cardamoms are part of southeast Asia’s largest mainland contiguous rainforest and serve as the last refuge for more than 80 of the world’s most threatened species, including Asian elephant, Indochinese tiger and Siamese crocodile, according to FFI. Safrole oil, which is also used in the production of cosmetics and in the traditional Khmer remedies, is produced from the aromatic oil of a tree known in Khmer as Mreah prew phnom, which experts think is Cinnamomum parthenoxylon. The species is generally considered rare, and in Vietnam, it is classified as critically endangered. It has no common name in English and no one knows how many of the trees are left in the world. Four Mreah prew phnom trees are needed to produce a single, 40-gallon barrel of safrole oil. An additional six trees of lesser value are felled to use as firewood in the processing of a single Mreah prew phnom tree. Secrecy and geography conspire to keep the illicit safrole-oil trade under wraps. Oil is lugged out by human mules, often over many miles of punishing jungle terrain, to roads where it is smuggled through to Thailand or Vietnam. One factory worker, who requested anonymity, called the back-breaking work “so hard we wanted to die.” Poverty-stricken recruits are paid $25 per month plus cigarettes, the worker said, and often have no idea of the oil’s true value or purpose. Once out of Cambodia, high-tech laboratories purify the sassafras oil and produce tablets of Ecstasy. FFI’s Tim Wood says the business is run by highly organized trans-national crime syndicates. The same shadowy syndicates are thought to be involved in human and wildlife trafficking, drug smuggling and the illegal weapons trade. According to the 2009 U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime World Drug Report, somewhere between 72 and 137 metric tons of Ecstasy were produced globally in 2007, the most recent year from which they have compiled data. It’s hard to say how much of that was produced in Southeast Asia, let alone Cambodia, but the UNODC does say that the stabilization of production in developed countries, like the U.S., has led to a spike in production in developing countries, many of which can be found in Southeast Asia. Some of the world’s largest clandestine factories were found and dismantled in that region, they reported. “This development is of concern as it relates to the potential for future growth, given that many of these countries are emerging economies with growing middle-classes that may represent lucrative new markets for ‘ecstasy,’” a UNODC report said. UNODC also estimates that between 11 and 23.5 million people worldwide used Ecstasy at least once in 2007. Of that number, between 2.3 and 6 million were in East and Southeast Asia. |
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Ecstasy (mdma) Threatens Rare Cambodian Tree
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