Taking drug policy to the grassroots village level

With thousands shot dead in Philippines drug war, Thailand takes new local village-level approach heeding international consensus that drug wars don't work.

DRUG ENFORCEMENT POLICY

Taking drug policy to the grassroots village level

01/09/2016

King-oua Laohong

As the so-called "Kill List" of dead people in the War on Drugs in the Philippines under the country's new president gets longer and longer (see here) Thailand is taking a different, more progressive approach.

Justice Minister Paiboon Koomchaya has declared that Thailand is on the wrong track in its efforts to address drug problems and it is time to treat drug abuse as a health issue rather than a crime.

"It has been wrong all these years. If not, why do 70% of drug offenders remain in prison? Why does the problem persist despite thousands of deaths? And why do people still complain about drugs in their community? They're telling us there's something wrong," he said.

Gen Paiboon has said that the emphasis must be shifted from suppression to treating drug abuse as a health problem and engaging the public health system on the issue (see here & here & on Thailand's soaring drug-related prison population here).

Taking a leading role in international drug law reform and modernising drug law enforcement is the International Drug Policy Consortium (IDPC), a "global network promoting objective and open debate on drug policy" (see here).

TAKING DRUG POLICY TO THE LOCAL VILLAGE LEVEL

Provincial governors and district chiefs will be given a bigger role in solving drug problems at the local level because they are closer to the problem than police or anti - narcotics officials, Justice Minister Paiboon Koomchaya said on Thursday.

Gen Paiboon said he would hold a meeting on Friday with representatives of the various agencies involved in drug suppression including the Office of the Narcotics Control Board (ONCB), provincial governors and district chiefs.

The meeting will discuss measures for tackling drug problems in more than 80,000 villages throughout the country.

The discussion will include drug abuse prevention and suppression and health care services, which will require the participation of community hospitals.

To solve drug problems at this level, provincial governors and district chiefs would be given the power to propose a budget for drug suppression and to order police and ONCB officials in the area to take action.

At the local level, they have more understanding of the problem than other officials because they supervise tambon and village chiefs, who are effective mechanisms in the local administration, Gen Paiboon said.

LISTS OF DRUG DEALERS & USERS

Gen Paiboon said the governors and district chiefs would also be assigned to revise lists of suspected drug dealers and drug users in their areas.

The lists prepared by them could be cross-checked against those held by the police Narcotics Suppression Bureau and the ONCB, Gen Paiboon said.

DRUG SEIZURE REWARDS TO POLICE TO BE ENDED

Gen Paiboon also said he personally thought the system of giving a reward to officials who take part in the seizures of drugs in various operations should be revoked because they were only doing their duty.

Pol Gen Chakthip Chaijinda, the national police chief, said earlier that without the reward system, drug suppression police would lack motivation and become demoralised.

Gen Paiboon said he was ready to listen to the police chief's explanation.

The idea occurred to him because he is chairman of the Drug Suppression Centre.

As such, he had to sign approval for the allocation of 30-40 million baht each month from the central fund to reward drug suppression officials.

In his opinion, if there must be a reward for drug seizures, the money should come from assets seized from drug suspects in order to save the state money, Gen Paiboon said.

On the controversial War on Drugs in the Philippines:

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/security/1075909/governors-district-chiefs-to-get-bigger-role-in-drug-suppression

สามารถฝึกอ่านออกเสียงและดูคำแปลได้ที่ : http://www.bangkokpost.com/learning/learning-from-news/1075997/taking-drug-policy-to-the-grassroots-village-level