Drop in drug use among tested military conscripts

[webfact]

Drop in drug use among tested military conscripts

By The Nation

 

Sirinya Sitthichai, secretary-general of the Office of Narcotics Control Board (ONCB)

 

A total of 12,209 men who showed up for military conscription have tested positive for drug use, with 7,174 so far admitted to rehabilitation programmes (2,146 in hospitals and 5,028 in boot camps), said secretary-general of the Office of Narcotics Control Board (ONCB) Sirinya Sitthichai on Thursday.
 

The drug users accounted for only 6.7 per cent of the 182,910 conscripted men who appeared this year, he said.

 

Last year saw 30,089 test positive for drugs, which – 7.9 per cent of those who appeared.

 

Kalasin province -– at 678 – reported the highest number of people testing positive, followed by Narathiwat (609) and Songkhla (592).

 

A majority of the men who failed the test – 11,139 – , were found to have taken yaba pills with another 750 testing positive for marijuana use.

 

The Army admitted 3,128 of the men who tested positive. They will join a drug rehabilitation programme during the first phrase of their two-year military training and service at their respective boot camps, Sirinya said, citing an agreement set among the ONCB, the Royal Thai Army, the Interior Ministry and the Public Health Ministry.

 

Those who were tested positive for drugs but were rejected for service had their information recorded by the ONCB and respective Army regions. They are to undergo a 13-day drug rehabilitation programme by the end of this month.

 

Those volunteering to join a drug rehabilitation programme in their areas, and who were approved by the central hospital’s drug-screening centre, will not be prosecuted under the criminal code or registered with criminal records, said Sirinya, citing the National Council for Peace and Order’s (NCPO) order No 108 that categorises drug users as patients in need of treatment.

 

On the other hand, those who failed to volunteer (by showing up to register for the rehabilitation) and failed to get an approval from the central hospital’s drug-screening centre will be forced to participate in the Probation Department’s drug rehabilitation programme. Only when they had passed the programme and had not repeated the offence, would their names be erased from the authority’s drug addict list, Sirinya said.

 

The ONCB also tested those registered personnel known as “Thahan Kongkern” during April 1-12, with results due for release on Friday, Sirinya said.

 

Thahan Kongkern are Thai men aged 18-30 who would ordinarily be subject to the annual conscription draw at age 21 but asked for postponement up to age 26 or who drew the “black card” in the conscription draw and avoided recruitment.

 

The status of Thahan Kongkern would end when the men reached the age of 30, after which they become “Thahan Kongnoon” – organised military reserves.

 

Conscripts who have completed their two-year service in the military also become Thahan Kongnoon.

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2018-04-19

[yellowboat]

How about sanctioned beatings, up or down ?  Wonder if there is a correlation between the two. 

[eliotness]

The young men simply learnt not to,take drugs a few days before the test.  Those that were caught are stupid.

[Davmaac]

17 hours ago, eliotness said:

The young men simply learnt not to,take drugs a few days before the test.  Those that were caught are stupid.

If they test positive and are rejected by the army but then agree to attend a rehab program, they escape prosecution and also obviously the 2 years service.

Maybe not so stupid?