Regardless of What Our Self-Serving Leaders Say, the So-Called Wars on Drugs Have Been a Disaster

Laws to deal with drugs offences drew international attention in recent weeks as rights groups, governments and family members called on President Joko Widodo to pardon a group of drug traffickers sentenced to death in Indonesia.

But at the centre of debate was not Indonesia's drug problem, as Joko claimed. Instead, much of the attention focused on Indonesia's domestic politics, where capital punishment has become a tool used by politicians to shore up their power.

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People Wrongly Jailed for Possessing Small Amount of Drugs, Academics Say

IT IS HIGH TIME Thailand amends its drug laws so as to ease prison crowding and stop putting so many undeserving people behind bars, a recent seminar was told.

Assoc Prof Sungsidh Piriyarangsan, dean of Rangsit University's College of Social Innovation, believes that more than 90 per cent of drug convicts should not be in jail.

Speaking at the seminar held by his college, Sungsidh said a large number of drug offenders were sent to prison only because Thai laws made it possible for people caught with a very small amount of drugs to get a trafficking conviction.

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Writing as a retired police detective, I heartily concur with your analysis of the drug war/drug prohibition. The smugglers ship a little extra toward their markets, knowing the authorities will confiscate maybe 20%. They also know when their mules are caught, they are easily replaced by men and women desperate for money. You must know that criminals love drug prohibition, since it guarantees them millions and billions in profits. If Thailand and other Asian countries want to strike fear and dread in the hearts of drug smugglers, join the growing number of voices across the planet that call to legalise/ regulate all drugs. The Mexican drug cartels are already vocal about how cannabis legalisation in Colorado is hurting their profits.

HOWARD

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A couple of major developments have taken place against the backdrop of the battle against drugs. The two cases seem to illustrate the two extremes of this long fight. In Thailand, suit-clad officials from four countries agreed politely to set up an information-sharing headquarters. No one is in charge. The specific goals are not just unstated, but appear not to exist. In Indonesia, at the other end of the pendulum, prison authorities yesterday brought six convicted drug dealers - five of them foreigners - to the killing stakes for execution by firing squad.

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In response to your editorial entitled "Drug war is flagging", on Jan 19, the Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia in Bangkok wishes to state the following:

1. Indonesia is now confronted by drugs and precursor abuse, an emergency that requires extraordinary measures. The Indonesian government in exercising its constitutional duty to impose stern actions within the framework of Indonesian laws against drugs-related offences which are regarded as one of the most serious crimes.

2. The execution has been imposed on anybody regardless of nationality based on strong legal evidence and through a judicial process. It is carried out as a last resort and only after all legal options have been exhausted, including appeals and requests for presidential pardons. The law stipulates that the death penalty is exercised in accordance with the level of the offence, such as that distributors, producers, and drug lords.

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Reading the article "Punishments for drug offences to be reviewed" was like grabbing a cup of water after a long slog through a desert. How many young people's lives have been unfairly ruined by the draconian drug laws in Thailand and other Southeast Asian bureaucracies tens of thousands, or hundreds of thousands? Thailand's drug laws follow those of the US note for note. America is slowly getting reasonable on that topic, but I'm surprised Thailand is following just by months instead of years.

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