FEW USERS IN REHABILITATION

Only one-fourth of drug users were sent for rehabilitation under the
government's war on drugs, a study by Thanyarak Hospital has found.

Before the launch of the campaign last year the country had an
estimated 2.4 million users but only 600,000 had taken part in the
rehabilitation programme, according to the study.

About half went back to drug dependence. Most of his patients surveyed
said they felt that drug use would return to normal a few months after
the government announced its success in the war on drugs, while only
6% felt that drug use would permanently decline afterwards. Suchada
Thim-udom, the head nurse of the hospital who has been working on
rehabilitating drug addicts since 1971, said the most effective form
of rehabilitation of drug addicts was to take care of their feelings
and emotions. New activities that encourage them to change their
behaviour should be introduced so they can resist drug use and go back
into society.