Bangkok Post January 19: Narcotics (r)

[suriya@xxxxxxxxxxxx]

January 19, 1998


                                     



                               NARCOCTICS

              Speed pills spread
              to more students

              Addicts become sellers for attractive
              income

              Sirikul Bunnag

              Awidespread use of amphetamine among secondary school
              students, including those attending famous institutions in
              Bangkok, could further spread into primary schools.

              Many secondary school children have ended up selling
              amphetamine after becoming addicted to drugs.

              Noi, 15, a former Mathayom Suksa 4 student of Srivikorn
              School in Bangkok, told the Bangkok Post he earned at least
              7,000 baht per day from selling amphetamine to fellow students
              and other people.

              He sold about 20 pills to friends during school hours and another
              40-50 after school to outside customers, most of them youths
              from Klong Toey slum.

              A pill costing 80 baht could earn Noi 70 baht in profit.

              He spent the seemingly huge profit buying drugs for his own use
              as well as for sale on the next day.

              Noi was introduced into the "business" by a Klong Toey friend,
              who knew a drug dealer whose identity was kept hidden from
              him.

              Noi said his friend had 400 amphetamine tablets available daily
              for him and seven other vendors.

              "I preferred selling in school. There were buyers and I did not
              have to risk being searched by police. I had never been searched
              by teachers. The worst I suffered was having to take a urine test
              or being warned by my teacher.

              "During my two years in the business I saw 5-6 addicts swelling
              to 30," he said.

              Noi is no longer selling amphetamine. He has dropped out of
              school and has been at a rehabilitation centre at Ban Poonsri in
              Chon Buri province for two months.

              Without Noi, the amphetamine trade is still rampant at Klong
              Toey. Addicts are still selling pills to school children.

              Yo, 15, a former Mathayom Suksa 2 student at Salinan School
              in Bangkok, said the amphetamine trade was launched some
              three years ago by five senior students. As a result, about 50
              students became addicted, including the principal's son.

              The school took the drug problems for granted. A tough action
              could result in expulsion and thereby a drop in income.

              "Nobody dared to tell the teachers. They (the drug sellers)
              threatened to hurt whoever did that. They were backed by
              outside addicts."

              "Moreover, we depended on drug suppliers. This explains why
              the drug use was widespread," Yo said.

              Pol Lt-Col Jirat Pichitchai, chief of the narcotic drugs
              suppression unit of Bang Lamung district, Chon Buri, said
              amphetamines have become a "super direct sale" item in schools.

              Dealers would first try to lure children with lots of friends into
              using the drug. Once addicted and in need of money to buy the
              drug, they would resort to selling amphetamine themselves.

              Pol Lt-Col Jirat said the amphetamine use spread fast. The
              number of drug addicts could triple in two months.

              The pills have crept into secondary schools across the country.
              The rehabilitation centre at Ban Poonsri receives over 100 calls
              each day from parents wanting to have their children undergo
              rehabilitation, according to the officer in charge of the centre.

              "Children from famous schools, including those demanding
              under-the-table admittance fees, have been brought to the centre
              by their parents. I would challenge school administrators to
              conduct a urine test on their students to prove their respective
              institutions are really drugs-free.

              "A well-known school in Ladprao has more than 100 addicts.
              An international school is facing the same problem. In Chon Buri,
              Thai Suriya Technical School was found to have over 200 heroin
              addicts. The school was recently ordered closed," he said.

              Pol Lt-Col Jirat said the Education Ministry's proposal to have
              students take a urine test once every three months would not
              work. The ministry should instead concentrate on preventive
              measures. It is not hard to detect addicts, who look shabby and
              lifeless. Such individuals habitually bite their fingernails, are
              unreliable and like to carry a cutter.

              Only urgent preventive measures could prevent amphetamines
              from spreading into primary schools, he said.

              A mandatory urine test for secondary school applicants would
              warn primary school students against drug use.

              A monthly treatment fee at Ban Poonsri rehabilitation centre
              stands at 2,000 baht per addict. A free treatment is offered for
              children from needy families. There are now 57 patients aged
              13-22 undergoing treatment here. Forty of them are addicted to
              amphetamine, 15 to heroin and two to glue sniffing.

              Duang, 15, a former Mathayom Suksa 4 student of Sikan
              School in Bangkok, said he had been addicted to amphetamine
              for three years.

              "I became slow to respond to orders, unable to remember things
              said or done a few minutes before, and spoke like a drunk. He
              used to be a good student, with a grade average of 3.00.

              The boy said he felt more at home at Ban Poonsri rehabilitation
              centre. "This is where I begin to see hope in life and where I can
              find love and sympathy."

              Duang had undergone treatment at seven other centres before
              coming to Ban Poonsri.

              "My previous treatments were to no avail as the officials in
              charge were unfriendly to their patients and were too hard on
              them," he said.