Shifting patterns of illicit crop cultivation Since the 1970s western governments have invested substantial sums of money toward programs to reduce cultivation of opium poppy, coca, marijuana and other illicit crops. The main investments have been in agriculture production and marketing activities to encourage licit crops, social and health programs to improve community wellbeing, legal programs to enable governments to control production and trade in illicit products at the national level, and eradication programs to destroy plants in farmers' field. Despite massive investment, drug crop cultivation has not been eliminated. Instead, the spatial distribution illicit cultivation has shifted, the amounts of drugs being produced has increased and the patterns of trade have changed. This session will examine the shifts in cultivation patterns of illicit crops over time using GIS and other modern geographic analysis techniques. The convener will present map-based findings on poppy cultivation in Laos from 1972. Other presenters will look at cannibis in the USA and opium poppy in Guatamala. Geographers with case studies on any illicit crop in any country are invited to join the session. Contact: Allison Brown <[log in to unmask]> Department of Plant, Soil and Insect Science University of Massachusetts Amherst