Demoso
More actions
| Demoso | |
|---|---|
| ActiveRecorded as grown here since 2000 | |
| Geography | |
| Country | Myanmar |
| Province/State | Kayah State |
| District | Demoso District |
| Coordinates | 19.54, 97.16 |
| Landscape | |
| Area | 1,200 km² |
| Terrain | Kayah State; approximately Demoso Township |
| Growing history | |
| Dated news reports | 2023 |
| Documentation | |
| Appellations | 0 |
| Accessions | 0 |
| Conservation | |
| Populations | none documented yet |
Demoso is a cannabis growing area in Kayah State (Karenni State), Myanmar, in Demoso Township (Demoso District). In 2023 the owner of a cannabis dispensary in the township, which operated under the protection of the Karenni Nationalities Defence Force (KNDF), told Frontier Myanmar that he was growing cannabis that season on a plot of about 100 acres (40 hectares) and was encouraging local opium farmers to grow cannabis instead of poppies.[1]
Setting
In 2023 Frontier Myanmar wrote that the resistance in the state, led by the KNDF, had "made enormous gains".[1] Forces of the Karenni Army, the KNDF and the People's Defence Force entered the town of Demoso in November 2023. The Myanmar army attacked the town from 4 August 2025 and announced on 21 August that it had retaken it; Karenni troops stayed in position around the town.[2]
Poppy growing, a traditional livelihood in Pekon Township, spread into Demoso and Loikaw townships after the 2021 military coup. A volunteer working with displaced people in Demoso told The Irrawaddy in 2026 that people there "only started to grow poppy after the coup because it is easy to grow and fetches quick cash". In February 2026 the KNDF destroyed nearly an acre of poppy beside the Union Highway in western Demoso. The commander of its Brigade 4 promised to "wipe out" the township's poppy fields.[3]
Cultivation
The dispensary opened in the middle of 2022 under the name Moe Ma Kha and was later renamed De Culture Cannabis. It stood in rural Demoso Township under KNDF protection and in 2023 sold about 20 strains of cannabis, with smoking accessories and an attached coffee shop. Its owner, Ko Win Oo, a KNDF fighter, called it "the very first cannabis shop in Myanmar" and said that it had opened "because we have our own liberated area". He said that the shop gave shares to KNDF soldiers injured in battle who could not return to combat and helped to fund the armed group.[1]
Win Oo said that he was growing cannabis that season on a plot of about 100 acres and was urging local opium farmers to switch from poppies to cannabis. Finding a larger market for the crop was, he said, a big challenge.[1]
Legal status
Myanmar's Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Law lists the cannabis plant as a narcotic drug and makes no distinction for hemp. Producing it carries a sentence of 10 years to life in prison. In 2023 neither the National Unity Government nor the ethnic armed organisations allied to it had publicly supported legalising cannabis. Many anti-military armed groups kept strict anti-drug platforms but tended to target the use and sale of methamphetamine and opiates in their territories, not cannabis. Win Oo said that he expected cannabis to become legal once the military was defeated.[1]
Accessions
No accessions documented yet.
Recent news
| Article | Date | Category | Locality | Plants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| News:2023-04-26/Report/frontier-myanmar-reports-a-kndf-protected-cannabis-dispensary-in-demoso-whose-owner-grows-about-100-acres | Report |
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 "Myanmar cannabis entrepreneurs plant seeds in Thailand". Frontier Myanmar. 26 April 2023. Archived from the original on 26 April 2023. Retrieved 20 October 2026.
- ↑ "กองทัพเมียนมายึดคืน "เมืองดีมอโซว์" จากฝ่ายกะเหรี่ยงคาเรนนี" [Myanmar army retakes the town of Demoso from Karenni forces]. Thai PBS (in ไทย). 21 August 2025. Retrieved 20 October 2026.
- ↑ "Karenni Rebels Vow to Stamp Out Opium Cultivation". The Irrawaddy. 13 February 2026. Retrieved 20 October 2026.