ECSTASY STICKERS A NEW THREAT IN NORTH

A new form of ecstasy pill has emerged in the North, where teenagers and
students have been lured to try illicit drug-laced stickers.

Pol Maj-Gen Inthadet Pornpeerapan, deputy commissioner of the Narcotics
Suppression Bureau, said the new form of ecstasy drug was widespread as it
was easily taken.

A drug-laced sticker is simply placed on the palm of the user's hand and the
chemical is absorbed into his or her bloodstream, the officer said.

Drug producers have also developed new formulas of methamphetamine, Pol
Maj-Gen Inthadet said, adding the new drugs were said to have stronger
effects.

He predicted more than 600 million speed pills would be smuggled into the
country this year. Fifty-five drug producing factories located in border
areas have reportedly set their targets to produce one million speed pills a
month each, or about 12 million pills a year.

According to a survey, 12.4% of teenagers in Bangkok or about two million
people are addicted to methamphetamine. In the North, the number of drug
addicts is particularly high in Chiang Mai.