Pubdate: Tue, 12 Apr 2005
Source: Nation, The (Thailand)
Copyright: 2005 Nation Multimedia Group
Contact:  http://www.nationmultimedia.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1963

GRAND NEW DRUG WAR LOOMING

This time, the government should wage a smarter campaign against pushers
while winning over impressionable youths

Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra yesterday launched the third phase of his
war on drugs, despite having claimed "total victory" over drug barons and
street pushers in two previous crackdowns that left more 2,500 dead under
dubious circumstances, most of them small-time traffickers. What is the
public to make of this latest anti-drug campaign? Part of the answer was
provided by the premier himself, speaking to representatives of the Office
of the Narcotics Control Board (ONCB), the Justice, Interior and Public
Health Ministries and the National Police Bureau. He told them the war on
drugs was an ongoing, long-term process that must be maintained in the face
of the ever-evolving nature of the illicit trade.

Thaksin also acknowledged the previous phases of the war had proved hugely
popular with the public. Never mind international condemnation and criticism
of alleged wholesale human-rights violations by police, who adopted a
shoot-to-kill policy that appeared to have the tacit approval of the PM
during the first leg, February to April 2003.

In the second phase, October to December 2004, alleged extrajudicial
killings by police became less pronounced, with "merely" scores losing their
lives "while resisting arrest by law-enforcement officials" or "being
liquidated by their peers to prevent them from leaking information to
authorities".

There are obvious reasons why Thaksin's war on drugs is frequently cited as
among his most outstanding "achievements". The general public considers
drugs one of the most serious threats to national security; parents and
teachers identify drug abuse as the biggest menace to children.

Even before Thaksin came to power, the ONCB had been following in the
footsteps of the US government's tradition of grand anti-drug strategies, to
be fought with an almost religious fervour.

Such an approach requires huge financial and manpower resources, which
fosters an expensive drug-war industry that is fed by public fear and
reinforced by its own "achievements". Since reliable drug-trade data are
lacking, every single anti-drug campaign becomes a "success".

Thaksin took the drug war one step further, turning it into a very rewarding
campaign that contributed to the dramatic rise in his popularity.

To be fair, Thaksin's vigorous law enforcement has succeeded to a certain
extent in stemming the influx of amphetamines through the porous borders
with neighbouring countries that harbour drug producers or have no effective
control over their territories or borders.

The government has augmented law enforcement with some big-budget public
relations. These campaigns involve trotting out teenage singers and film
stars as "role models". These young and super-rich heartthrobs are deliver
inane messages like, "Keep off drugs, if you want to be smart, successful,
rich and sexy like us."

No one seems to care whether such unimaginative campaigns really work. Over
the years, countless numbers of these hackneyed campaigns have been churned
out, but with no serious effort made to evaluate their effectiveness.

Meanwhile, the spread of drugs has continued unabated. The latest official
estimates indicate that more than 3 million Thais have experimented with one
drug or another. Of these, about 10 per cent, or 300,000, are active users.

To reduce demand effectively, campaigners must get in touch with the
realities of the drug user's world. Anti-drug advocates should pay heed to
recent findings by US authorities that indicate campaigns that treat young
people like children invariably fail. Today's youths do not find the more
common anti-drug messages very persuasive.

And it's not difficult to guess why not. Parents, teachers and policy-makers
are at a loss as to what kind of message teenagers might react positively
to, because they have no idea how modern youths live.

In recent years, the government has shifted its emphasis away from
controlling supply towards reducing demand, as evidenced in the introduction
of rehab services. But even rehabilitated users can easily relapse into
their hard-to-kick habit.

Highly publicised drug wars appear dramatic and allow politicians to score
quick political points, but when large and ever-growing numbers of youths
are still persuaded by drug pushers to believe that whoever uses drugs has
more fun, Thailand's anti-drug policy and strategies must be revamped.
Perhaps it's time that anti-drug advocates came up with some brand-new
tricks to persuade our youth that it's just the opposite that's true. 
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