CAFFEINE TO BE BANNED IN THAI PROVINCES TO CURB STIMULANT PRODUCTION

BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) Thai authorities will ban caffeine from six northern
provinces beginning next month to prevent its use in the production of the
illegal stimulant methamphetamine, a Thai newspaper reported Saturday.

Caffeine will not be listed as a controlled substance but its shipment to
the provinces in northern Thailand close to neighboring Myanmar will be
prohibited, reported the Bangkok Post newspaper, quoting Prime Minister's
Office Minister Jurin Laksanavisit.

Myanmar, also known as Burma, is believed to be the source of most of the
methamphetamine that is flooding into Thailand. In the past few years the
stimulant has overtaken heroin as the greatest drug threat to the country,
largely because it can be made and sold cheaply. Myanmar is also a major
source of heroin and opium.

The announcement of the ban came after an article in Myanmar's state-run
New Light of Myanmar newspaper accused Thailand, along with China and
India, of being the sources for the chemicals in the manufacture of
amphetamines.

Thai authorities have angrily denied the allegation, and reports from
various drug experts suggest that India and China are far more likely
culprits.

"Amphetamine continues to be the biggest threat among illegal drugs,"
Sorasit Sangprasert, the secretary-general of Thailand's Narcotics Control
Board, was quoted as saying in the newspaper The Nation.