Pubdate: Thu, 30 Jun 2005
Source: Nation, The (Thailand)
Copyright: 2005 Nation Multimedia Group
Contact:  http://www.nationmultimedia.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1963
Author: Pravit Rojanaphruk, The Nation
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topics/Thailand
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mdma.htm (Ecstasy)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/heroin.htm (Heroin)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)

'WAR ON DRUGS' NOT OVER YET

The government's "very successful" war on methamphetamine drugs is not
over yet, as police are now targeting large-scale drug dealers.

Officials stopped counting the number of deaths related to the drug
trade two years ago, said a senior official at the Office of the
Narcotics Control Board.

"We use the same strategy then as now. If they're killed by officers
it means that were violently resisting arrest," Chartchai Suthiklom,
deputy secretary-general of the ONCB, said yesterday.

Chartichai did not provide a figureon the number of people killed in
the war on drugs, but said "murder cases somehow [still] occur [and]
police will have to take care".

One indicator of the success on the war on drugs is the price of
methamphetamine, which rose from Bt100 before the initiative began to
Bt300 today. Production has also decreased in the Golden Triangle area
and drug trafficking is conducted in smaller quantities today. Success
in quelling the drug trade also means that there are 200 dealers
currently on death row.

Chartchai, whose presentation coincided with the United Nations Office
on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)'s release of its 2005 World Drug Report,
said crystallised methamphetamine -- called "ice" or "shabu" -- is
being produced in Burma, the Philippines, Malaysia and Fiji.

The UNODC report revealed that some 200 million people or 5 per cent
of the world's population aged 15-64 had used drugs at least once in
the last 12 months -- that is 15 million people more than last year's
estimate.

The number of cannabis users is now close to 160 million worldwide, or
4 per cent of those aged between 15-64.

Cannabis continues to be the most widely produced, trafficked and
consumed drug worldwide, with the market continuing to grow.

The report found that there were 26 million amphetamine users
worldwide -- with Thailand showing a notable decrease in its number of
users -- and 8 million ecstasy takers. The report stated that cocaine
and heroine continued to be the main problem drugs
internationally.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Richard Lake