Thai Police Wait Outside Needle Exchange Center To Arrest People

[webfact]

THAILAND: Ambivalent about needle exchanges

BANGKOK, 4 August 2012 (IRIN) - Needle exchanges for injecting drug users and the decriminalization of people who use drugs are the most effective ways of preventing HIV and hepatitis C infections in Thailand, say experts.

“When users do not have access to sterile injecting equipment they will share needles, [and] that will lead to HIV transmission as well as to hepatitis C,” said Pascal Tanguay, programme director in the Thailand office of the international NGO, Population Services International (PSI).

Providing free clean needles and syringes has proven to be the safest and most effective way to prevent new infections among injecting drug users (IDUs). But the Council of State, Thailand’s central legal advisory body, has interpreted any needle distribution programme as promoting drug use, Petsri Siriniran, Director of the National AIDS Management Centre in the Public Health Ministry’s Department of Disease Control, told IRIN.

Nevertheless, the ministry is collaborating on a pilot project, run by PSI since 2009, in which counselling and sterile syringes are provided through drop-in centres and outreach services in 19 of Thailand’s 76 provinces.

PSI has partnered with various local NGOs and support groups for people living with HIV to distribute clean needles to the country’s estimated 40,000 IDUs, 20 percent of whom share needles, according to 2010 government figures.

The Urban Health Research Initiative of the British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS and the local Thai AIDS Treatment Action Group released a survey of 468 injecting drug users from a community in Bangkok, the capital, in 2012.

The study found that 30 percent of participants borrowed needles from other drug users, largely because there was nowhere to buy new ones or because pharmacies refused to sell them syringes.

A 2011 World Bank review of HIV prevention among IDUs in Thailand indicated that needle exchange programmes could be one of the key factors in decreasing HIV infections among them.

HIV prevalence among the country’s PWID’s has dropped to 22 percent in 2010 from over 40 percent in 2008 and 2009. However, this rate is still among the highest for the region, according to the Global AIDS response progress reports submitted by governments to the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS).

Anne Bergenstrom, Regional Adviser on HIV/AIDS at the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Regional Centre for East Asia and the Pacific said: “We need to be cautious about the apparent reduction in prevalence. Some of this reduction may be due to deaths in this population. There is no recent national survey on drugs, so we do not know how many people initiate drugs and how many among the new users are HIV positive.”

In Bangkok, Sak Aim Kien, 47, said, “When I am with friends and I have money, I still inject heroin, although I try hard to quit.” He has attended government drug rehabilitation programmes for the past eight years with faltering success. “My family does not know about my addiction and I tell my children I have a lung disease to hide it.”

Another man at the same local drop-in centre who went by the name of Aun, 37, went from injecting heroin to midazolam - a legally available psychotropic drug that alters brain function by affecting the central nervous system - after completing a methadone treatment programme five years ago.

Daily doses of methadone, a pain reliever, have been shown to help wean injecting drug users off heroin by blocking drug-induced euphoria and blunting their withdrawal symptoms, but in some cases, users have simply substituted one addiction for another.

Government “ambivalence”

Since 2009, PSI has distributed more than 300,000 needles and syringes, reaching up to 8,000 drug users, but workers say they operate on the margins of the law. “We currently run the only needle and syringe distribution project in Thailand, but the Thai government refuses to implement needle and syringes distribution, proclaiming falsely that such projects would encourage drug use,” said Tanguay.

“Sometimes the police are waiting outside our premises, arresting people who come here,” Piyabutr Nakaphiw, the manager of O-Zone, a drop-in centre for drug users in Bangkok, told IRIN. The centre employs drug users as outreach workers to distribute clean needles to other users in their communities. “They stop our outreach community workers, and if they are tested positive for drugs, the police either ask for money or arrest them,” said Nakaphiw.

“At times, the Thai society has an ambivalent attitude towards the needle and syringe programme,” said the HIV advisor, Bergenstrom. “However, if we try to prevent HIV transmission among PWID , then coverage of needle and syringe programme, evidence based drug dependence treatment, HIV testing and counseling and access to antiretroviral treatment, among other services, should be increased."

The 2012-2016 national AIDS strategy calls for a review and amendment of current legislation that prohibits needle exchange and criminalizes drug users. A past effort to change the relevant laws failed.

Although the Drug Addict Rehabilitation Act passed in 2002 promotes the treatment of people who use drugs as patients, under the 1979 Narcotics Act drug addicts can still be arrested.

“It will be virtually impossible to halt HIV transmission as long as the national legal and policy framework around drug issues focuses on punishment and deterrence at the expense of the health and human rights of citizens,” said Tanguay.

Hepatitis C infection is another concern. A recent study published by the UK medical journal, The Lancet, reported that almost 90 percent of IDUs in Thailand are living with hepatitis C, which is transmitted through needle sharing, and can lead to liver failure and cancer.

Tanguay said although needle exchange programmes alone will not halt the spread of HIV and hepatitis C, it can be a major part of the solution if combined with the decriminalization of drugs and drug users.

Source: http://www.irinnews....eedle-exchanges

-- IRIN Asia 2012-08-04

[BookMan]

Needle exchanges are a good thing. They certainly don't encourage drug use.

[whybother]

Thai Police Wait Outside Needle Exchange Center To Arrest People

Interesting headline given the content of the article.

[coma]

Yes. These establishments are a good thing and they certainly don't make me want to start shooting up drugs. If the BIB are ambushing users as they come out then that is sad and something should be done about it. Surely they did a quick 5 minute lesson on the dangers of / and health and safety in relation to intravenous drug use at the academy.

Edited August 4, 2012 by coma

[Credo]

How do they encourage drug use? You have to have a needle to exchange, so I doubt that anyone comes in to get a needle to use for the first time.

[OzMick]

Thai Police Wait Outside Needle Exchange Center To Arrest People

Interesting headline given the content of the article.

"..... the police either ask for money or arrest them.” Now that sounds more like the BIB we know.

Many years ago, I took a moonlight and barefoot stroll along Bondi beach with a young lady and ended up with a needle sticking out of my foot - an event which has lead to a negative attitude to IDU. But I do support needle exchange programs as long as the emphasis is on EXCHANGE and not just a free handout to be disposed of willy-nilly.

[looping]

Police need to be educated (fat chance).

[Gone]

Typical Thai thinking by the BIB. These exchanges do exactly what was explained yet these un-educated police think it's a great way to bust criminals.

In any civilized country the police are all for it however here..........well just refer to my signature

[PoodMaiDai]

So...... this will in turn drive them back to sharing needles and spreading disease.

Once again, the Thais have outdone themselves.

[mrtoad]

The BIB are the biggest pricks in this story

[redroo]

bib double dip.

[kimamey]

The BIB are the biggest pricks in this story

I suppose the problem could be that in other countries the police are trained in techniques to catch criminals. In Thailand many seem to be money collectors so standing outside these centres works just fine.

I'm reminded of what was told to me by a Brit I visited after meeting him on here. He was talking about the traffic police. He said if a police vehicle passes you on the road don't worry. They never pull anyone over they will only stop you if they are parked up for that purpose. If that's true (I've never seen anyone pulled over except at a check point) then it shows the lack of any real effort.

Anything that can help the drug problem is a good thing.

[BirdsandBooze]

Arresting the poor saps hooked on drugs isn`t the answer, but I suppose arresting Mr Big would likely lead to acute embarrassment.

[hellodolly]

I thought Yingluck was going to reduce the drug problem by 80%.

She apparently forgot to tell the addict's.

[noitom]

"The police wait outside and get money from them or arrest them" - The outreach workers. What a disgrace and example of a sinking nation. When high government officials must sanction this type of police activity, it signals an indicator of a failed state.

[ianf]

Police need to be educated (fat chance).

And many people from needle exchange centres were shot by Thaksin's police in his phoney war on drugs.

[jaltsc]

How do they encourage drug use? You have to have a needle to exchange, so I doubt that anyone comes in to get a needle to use for the first time.

Although I don't see how this will encourage an increase in drug use, I can see how this will encourage the increase of "tea" consumption.

[spidermike007]

“Sometimes the police are waiting outside our premises, arresting people who come here,” Piyabutr Nakaphiw, the manager of O-Zone, a drop-in centre for drug users in Bangkok, told IRIN. The centre employs drug users as outreach workers to distribute clean needles to other users in their communities. “They stop our outreach community workers, and if they are tested positive for drugs, the police either ask for money or arrest them,” said Nakaphiwat.

Just another example of the destructive force of law enforcement in this country. These parasites bring virtually nothing to the table, and feed off of thai society like vampires. I believe the Thai police are on of the most heinous elements in thai society. They barely earn the right to breathe the oxygen they consume. They are a virtual revenue collection agency. What do you think the statistics are, in regard to the amount of crime they solve, prevent, or fight? How many other countries have a police force as inept, incompetent, corrupt, underpaid, and poorly equipped?

[mozzieslapper]

Let me get this right, Government funded needle exchange and rehabilitation programs and then the corrupt and incomplete Thai police force police wait out side extorting bribes from people?

Almost a Monty Python sketch

[cup-O-coffee]

Does any of this matter? The druggie employees are getting their fixes, the druggies are getting their clean needles, the employers are getting their NGO and business funding, the police are getting their tea money, and a lot of little deals are being made on the side as everyone sits around or waits in queues to get theirs.

Sounds like a cozy little place to be for everyone involved.

The problem with social efforts like this is that they swiftly decay into the lowest form of enabling and co-dependency. So does any of this really matter to you or me?

Ignorant headline, by the way.

[thequietman]

The BIB are the biggest pricks in this story

I really DO hate the bib. what a career choice to make. will I do a normal hard working job or will I try to excel to be the scum of the earth ? not a hard decision for normal people. Don't hit me with, "they are not all like that", yes, they are. find me ONE that hasn't took a back hander. 'they only get paid 6000 baht a month, they have to do it.' bullshit, you are either (A) a scumbag (bib) or ( hard working. which is it ?

[geriatrickid]

A repugnant situation. Considering the fact that the HIV and Hepatitis epidemic in Thailand is fueled by IDUs, it is counter productive to stop the needle exchange. In a country without an effective drug treatment program, the needle exchange is the only activity that can slow the pread of infections. It begs the question of whether the police are there to help or to exploit.

[siampolee]

It begs the question of whether the police are there to help or to exploit.

Methinks G.K. there might be on the agenda a plan for expanding business by assorted interested parties who so it seems are above what passes for the law.here. I would say that you had hit the nail on the head with your closing comment.

[ripstanley]

The BIB are the biggest pricks in this story

I really DO hate the bib. what a career choice to make. will I do a normal hard working job or will I try to excel to be the scum of the earth ? not a hard decision for normal people. Don't hit me with, "they are not all like that", yes, they are. find me ONE that hasn't took a back hander. 'they only get paid 6000 baht a month, they have to do it.' bullshit, you are either (A) a scumbag (bib) or ( hard working. which is it ?

The government should pay them 30000 a month. Then they would not demand tea money. The government would receive more revenue from properly receipt fines. This increase in revenue would more than cover the extra wages. This is good in theory.

[chrisinth]

Personally speaking, I would like to see someone with the balls to record, both audio and video, some of the police shakedowns and present this to the Ministry of Health. Take it to the WHO. Even if it is classed as entrapment, it will still get it in the open as at present, these leeches are getting away with it, preying on the defenseless. It just drives it underground and its back to needle sharing.

I will admit that I am against drug taking (always have been, always will be but that is just me), but adiction is adiction and these needle exchanges do work in the reduction of transmitable ailments. They just need a chance to work.

[yummypizza]

If the Police force could be cleaned up,Thailand would be a very different place,because all the scammers would lose their backing and decent people would learn to trust and rely on an effective police presence, this is the rotten core of the apple, until this happens.....Chok dee my friends in any aspect of law enforcement..

[Gonzo the Face]

If indeed this headline is true , that would surely win the Gold Medal, in the Olympics of Moronic Hypocrisy !

[chooka]

The police should be encouraging this not arresting people for obtaining clean needles. They estimate that aids is 1/10 thais and needle exchange programs assist in combating the aids problem as not as many users are sharing dirty infected needles. umm the mind bogles. What are they going to do next, set up a committe to determine if they need to set up a committe to discuss the viability of setting up a committe to discuss the reasons why people aren't using the needle exchange program? Nah a committee is a waste of time as they will never find the answer. The Hub of fools.

[softgeorge]

The Venus Flytrap