Golden Crescent and Golden Triangle (drug trafficking)
Also called: Golden Crescent, Golden Triangle (opium) · Topic: Geographical Issues: Pollution, Urban Waste, Slums and Land Degradation · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
The Golden Crescent and the Golden Triangle are the two biggest regions in Asia that grow opium illegally. Opium is the dried juice of the poppy plant. Heroin and other narcotic drugs (drugs that dull pain and cause addiction) are made from it. The Golden Crescent covers Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran, to the west of India. The Golden Triangle covers Myanmar, Laos and Thailand, to the east of India. India lies between the two. That makes it both a route for smuggled drugs and a market for them. This is why border states face a serious drug problem.
Example
The Golden Triangle takes its name from the hilly area where Myanmar, Laos and Thailand meet, along the Mekong river. Drugs from Myanmar enter India across the north-eastern border, through states such as Manipur and Mizoram. Drugs from the Golden Crescent come in from the west across the Pakistan border, especially into Punjab.
Don't confuse with
- Golden Quadrilateral: a highway project linking Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata. It has nothing to do with drugs.
- Supply reduction vs demand reduction: stopping drugs that come in from these regions is supply-side work done by enforcement agencies under the Home Ministry. Lowering how much people want drugs, through prevention and treatment, is demand reduction. That is the job of the Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan.