COUNCIL DISPUTES MONK ADDICTION RATE

A Sangha Council member has challenged a Religious Affairs Department claim
that 10% of the nation's monks are drug addicts.

Phra Dhammakittiwong said the claim was false and could damage the image of
the country's 300,000 monks.

He said most of the monks were probably former drug users who failed to
quit before temporarily entering the monkhood. Buddhists would refuse to
give alms to monks if the number of drug-addicted monks were really that
high, he said.

The council said two years ago monks would be defrocked if they were found
to have taken drugs. Some monks had taken speed due to "misunderstandings"
but stopped when they learned about the dangers.