NUMBER OF DRUG ADDICTS IN VIETNAM ROSE 10 PERCENT LAST YEAR

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) - The number of drug addicts with police records rose
by more than 10 percent last year despite a government goal of reducing the
number of addicts by 10 percent to 20 percent a year over the next five
years, state-controlled media reported Saturday.

The Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper quoted Vice Minister of Public Security Le
The Tiem as saying the increase included a larger number of state employees.

"Drug abuse has begun to spread to civil servants and state offices and
there is a close connection between drug-related crimes ... and organized
crime," he said.

There are an estimated 130,000 drug addicts with police records in Vietnam,
of which 11 percent are state employees.

Last year, authorities uncovered 12,811 drug cases and arrested 21,103
people, the newspaper said.

Vietnam plans to send all known drug addicts through mandatory
rehabilitation programs over the next five years despite high failure
rates. Officials say 97 percent of the drug addicts in Hanoi who go through
the programs return to drugs within five years.