haltest Posted January 12, 2002 Report Share Posted January 12, 2002 From BBC news web site: Thailand is considering making all school and university students undergo urine tests to check for drug use. The plan was announced by the Interior Minister Purachai Piemsoonboon as the next step in a campaign to enforce social order. Details of the drug testing are to be worked out at a meeting later this month. Parental consent for the tests will be sought, and officials say those found to have used drugs will be treated, and their records kept confidential. "Schools should not solve the problem by expelling students who are found to be addicted to drugs," Mr Purachai told national television. "They should help them in rehabilitation." Rasamee Witawaid, Deputy Secretary General of the Thai Narcotics Control Board told BBC's East Asia Today programme: "We want to help them, rehabilitate them in the school, in the family. That's the point. It's not to blame them." Young drug users The trafficking and consumption of methamphetamine is a major social problem in Thailand. In November, a health ministry survey found that 2.65 million Thais, or 4.3% of the population, were addicted to drugs. Of those people, 91% were hooked on methamphetamine, which is mostly smuggled in from neighbouring Burma. The authorities are also concerned about ya baa, or mad medicine, which is becoming increasingly popular among young people. The average age of first-time users is 13, the authorities say. The drug has been found everywhere from primary schools to nightclubs. According to the United Nations, 800 million tablets were trafficked in Thailand in 2000, enough for 12 per person. In October Mr Purachai won widespread public support for a social order campaign forcing nightclubs to close early in an attempt to curb drug abuse and underage drinking among Thai youth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 12, 2002 Report Share Posted January 12, 2002 Man, I thought it was just the farangs who were getting the shaft by these creeps. Mandatory drug testing for university students? Cripes! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sukhumvit Posted January 13, 2002 Report Share Posted January 13, 2002 So they wanna stop Thai uni students getting out of their head on drugs? Hmmm. Just reduce the price of beer and make it compulsory to attend the students union bar. That ought to do it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 13, 2002 Report Share Posted January 13, 2002 Give the youth more of a future to look foreward to and they may not want to "escape" through drugs. spend 4 years in a thai university, and they may get a job as a bank teller. ( if they know some one) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 13, 2002 Report Share Posted January 13, 2002 quote: Originally posted by pasathai: [QB]Give the youth more of a future to look foreward to and they may not want to "escape" through drugs. QB] no, no! that would mean shaking up the foundations, and we cannot do that, can we? we might even have to give up all that land we bought so cheaply from the banks, or paying those guys proper wages, which would cut into our profits. no, pasathai, are you some kind of a communist by chance? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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