DRUG POLICY IGNORES CAUSES OF ADDICTION

We Are All Culpable For The Complete Failure Of The Government's
Policy On Narcotics

In the first quarter of 2003 the then government of Thaksin Shinawatra
launched a bloody "war on drugs" that resulted in the deaths of some
2,500 people.

The vast majority were said to have been extra-judicial killings but
the police insisted that these were murders to silence possible informers.

The fact that the public supported the bloody campaign reflected the
weaknesses of our society, which often presents itself as just and
open. Embarrassed by bad publicity and criticism from the
international community, the then government put the brakes on the
bloody campaign. Aware of the fact that the controversial campaign was
seen as a winner among the general public, the new government has
toyed with the idea of resurrecting it. But Interior chief Chalerm
Yubamrung hasn't said anything about matching the body count of the
2003 campaign.

At a press conference on Monday, Kitti Limchaikit, secretary-general
of the Office of the Narcotic Control Board, said that there are about
2.5 million regular drug users in the country and that the deep South
accounted for the highest per capita number, with about 300,000 users.
What's disturbing is the fact that in 2003, Thailand had 475,000
reported users.

In five years the number of drug users has jumped from less than
50,000 to 2.5 million.

In 2001, when Thaksin came into power, there were high hopes among the
people.

Drug abuse was said to be high on the agenda of the government.
Thaksin said he would take his case to Burma and China, the source of
most illicit drugs, and vowed to hunt down men like Wei Hsueh-kang
"dead or alive".

None of this ever happened.

Burma didn't see Thailand's bad drug habit as its own problem and
China didn't have enough reason to put a squeeze on Rangoon to curb
the flow of narcotics pouring into the Thai side of the border from
the Golden Triangle. It may not have been so shocking if the 2003
figure remained the same, but the fact is that it has gone up five
times.

This raises serious questions about the future of our society and
about the role of the government. The Thaksin administration
shamelessly took advantage of public sentiment for political gain by
presenting itself as some sort of saviour.

In late 2003, Thaksin had the nerve to declare "victory" in his
half-baked war on drugs - as if he was fighting a conventional war.

The problem with Thailand is that our political leaders and security
officials don't see drugs and drug abuse as a social issue, but one of
law and order.

Issues such as education, poverty, social mobility, access to medical
help and counselling are never part of the debate.

The body count makes all the sense they need. Accountability and due
process are too much work. Perhaps we only have ourselves to blame.

After all, we voted for dishonest politicians who have no qualms about
putting in place policies that affect people's lives.

Sadly, according to a recent poll, a large majority of Thai people
don't mind if their elected representatives are corrupt, as long as
they are successful. Never mind principles. The question of the day
seems to be "what's in it for me?"

How did we become so selfish in such a short time? It was only three
decades ago that Thai students took to the streets to demand an end to
military dictatorship. Oh, and let's not forget that we just elected a
right-wing politician who was prominent during those bloody days when
scores of students were lynched.

He told the foreign media recently that only one unlucky student
died.Today, the same old "what's in it for me" attitude continues to
prevail and the political leaders know how to take advantage of it.
What's disturbing is that our society blindly endorses these policy
makers without making them accountable for their words and deeds. The
same goes for their policy on drugs.

If anything, the current figure provided by the ONCB is a testimony of
the utter failure of our policy makers - and we, the citizens of this
country, must also share the blame.