|
Asia:
Thai
Drug
War
Now
Targets
Cocaine
5/27/05
https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle-old/388/thaicocaine.shtml
Thai Prime Minister Thaksin
Shinawatra took his never-ending and murderous war on drugs in Thailand
in a new direction over the weekend, announcing Saturday that his quixotic
crusade to make Thailand "drug free" is now targeting cocaine. Now
in its third phase, the first phase of Thaksin's crusade killed some 2500
drug users and dealers in 2003, according to local and international human
rights groups. While the second phase, beginning late last year,
was less bloody, Thaksin's crusade continues to persecute drug users and
sellers.
While he originally vowed
to make Thailand "drug free" by the end of 2003, Thaksin has since scaled
back his goals. Now, with this third phase of the Thai war on drugs,
Thaksin told the Thai News Agency he hopes to "eliminate as many drugs
as possible" by June 10.
But at prices of around $75
per gram in Bangkok, cocaine is not a mass market drug in Thailand, where
methamphetamine pills go for pennies and smokeable opium remains cheap.
Instead, according to the US Drug Enforcement Agency, cocaine is the preserve
of wealthy Thais and foreigners. Indeed, the extent of cocaine use
is unknown in Thailand, but the DEA notes that there had not even been
a domestic cocaine arrest there before 1994.
Still, said Thaksin, cocaine
remains "readily available" among the wealthy. For regular users,
buying cocaine is as easy to do as buying a pizza, he complained.
-- END --
|
Issue #388
-- 5/27/05
Editorial:
Reasonable
Standards
|
Feature:
Federal
Bill
to
Rein
in
Anti-Drug
Task
Forces
Introduced
in
Response
to
Tulia
Scandal
|
"Drug
Tourists"
Provoke
Competing
Cries
for
Regulation,
Repression
in
Holland
|
Chances
of
Medical
Marijuana
Passage
in
Statehouses
Now
Focused
on
Northeast
|
Announcement:
DRCNet/Perry
Fund
Event
to
Feature
US
Rep.
Jim
McDermott,
June
1
in
Seattle
|
Weekly:
This
Week's
Corrupt
Cops
Stories
|
Marijuana:
Maine
Governor
Wants
to
Increase
Fines
to
Pay
for
Narcs
|
Congress:
House
Bill
Would
Let
"Victims"
Sue
Drug
Dealers,
But
Only
if
They
Snitch
|
Southwest
Asia:
Azerbaijan,
US
Sign
Anti-Drug
Agreement
Despite
Human
Rights
Abuses
|
Europe:
Swiss
Panel
Says
New
Drug
Policy
Should
Include
Alcohol,
Tobacco,
Opt
for
Pragmatism
|
Asia:
Thai
Drug
War
Now
Targets
Cocaine
|
Update:
Schapelle
Corby
Sentenced
to
20
Years
|
Weekly:
This
Week
in
History
|
Job
Listing:
Outreach
Coordinator,
Coalition
for
Higher
Education
Act
Reform
(DRCNet)
|
Weekly:
The
Reformer's
Calendar
|
This issue -- main page
This issue -- single-file printer version
Drug War Chronicle -- main page
Chronicle archives
|
PERMISSION to reprint or
redistribute any or all of the contents of Drug War Chronicle (formerly The Week Online with DRCNet is hereby
granted. We ask that any use of these materials include proper credit and,
where appropriate, a link to one or more of our web sites. If your
publication customarily pays for publication, DRCNet requests checks
payable to the organization. If your publication does not pay for
materials, you are free to use the materials gratis. In all cases, we
request notification for our records, including physical copies where
material has appeared in print. Contact: StoptheDrugWar.org: the Drug Reform Coordination Network,
P.O. Box 18402, Washington, DC 20036, (202) 293-8340 (voice), (202)
293-8344 (fax), e-mail [email protected]. Thank
you.
Articles of a purely
educational nature in Drug War Chronicle appear courtesy of the DRCNet
Foundation, unless otherwise noted.
|
