Homepage > Thai Youth Issues > Repeat surveys turn up few city school drug takers

Date: 22nd March 2001, Bangkok Post

Another study with a bigger sample soon

Ranjana Wangvipula

Surveys on drug use in city-run schools are revealing few students implicated.

In one survey, out of 4,018 students from Prathom 6 to Mathayom 6 who submitted to urine tests, only 25 were found to have traces of methamphetamine, said Dr Krit Hiranras, the city's health director. No drug use was found among the Grade 6 students.

The survey, made in December, involved seven of the city's 431 schools chosen for their known involvement with drugs at various degrees of seriousness. "The result was not as we had expected. We expected it to be a lot worse," said Dr Krit.

In another survey last month, 1,200 students in Mathayom 1 to Mathayom 3 in 49 schools were put to the test. Traces of methamphetamine were found in only 56. Dr Krit said the samples might have been too small to reveal the true extent of drug use. Another survey was being planned to ensure the result would be more representative.

Those who tested positive would be sent to a military camp in Kanchanaburi for rehabilitation, he said.

He was unable to estimate the number of speed pill users in Bangkok. However, he said the city's 17 treatment centres had been visited by about 12,000 people each year for the last two years.

A city-run drug rehabilitation centre on 34 rai of land in Prawet district could accommodate another 50 patients.

Dr Krit said the city's anti-drug programme had been hampered by a complicated bureaucratic system.

Co-operation was essential for an effective programme, he said.

"Our response to the drug problem is sluggish and that's a problem," Dr Krit said.

The Bangkok governor, for example, had no authority over officials from government agencies such as the police, unlike governors in other provinces.

The problem persisted despite the government's move in 1998 to set up the Drug Prevention and Eradication Centre to ensure closer co-operation. Within the city, closer co-operation was also needed among education, health, and drug treatment staff, he said.

"If a city department wants to issue an order to a district office, for example, it cannot do so directly. It has to be done through the city clerk," Dr Krit said.

He praised Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra for taking the lead in the fight against drugs. As prime minister, Mr Thaksin had the power to command action from all agencies, he said.