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[webfact]

Rethink ‘War on Drugs’, say Phuket pollsters
The Phuket News


Meih Luis, 21, and Zharn Nioh, 29, were arrested and their two cooked kratom leaves and pot were seized as evidence. Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub

PHUKET: -- Nearly half the respondents to an online poll by The Phuket News have called for the government to rethink its “War on Drugs”, while more than 40 per cent called for police to target only “big fish” dealers.

Nary a week goes by without The Phuket News reporting drugs busts; some large, others small. But it is the personal possession arrests that elicit the most vociferous comments from readers, often questioning why police chose to grandstand taking less than a gramme of any illegal substance off the streets.

Arrests targeting token amounts of kratom, a locally indigenous plant that acts as a mild stimulant when ingested, often provoke the most enquiring comments. To this, The Phuket News launched its poll, asking readers: “Which of the following views on the current drug-enforcement policy on kratom best describes you?”

A tell-tale 48% of respondents voted plainly: “Thailand should consider ending its war on drugs completely, and instead reap the benefits from regulation and taxation.”

Adding to that cause were 44% of respondents who voted: “Some drugs are bad, other drugs like kratom are less so. Police should focus on busting major dealers instead of mules and small-time users.”

Source: http://www.thephuketnews.com/rethink-war-on-drugs-say-phuket-pollsters-54688.php


-- Phuket News 2015-10-26

[zaphod reborn]

So much money in the planting of drugs as evidence on innocents. Why give it up when profits get shared up the ranks?

[z42]

So much money in the planting of drugs as evidence on innocents. Why give it up when profits get shared up the ranks?

+1

[shirtless]

The war has been lost for years , but without it budgets would be cut

[Mr magoo]

Nice picture of the police men

With one proudly advertising HEROIN on his T shirt.

says it all

[Guitar God]

Sounds like a good plan to me, hope something becomes of it. Other countries and US states are doing it because it's a logical, pragmatic approach. Alcohol prohibition in the US in the 20's caused much more harm than it prevented.

It makes no sense that they have no problem with every 7-11 selling energy drinks full of caffeine and ephedra, taurine and niacin when quite a few people have died from drinking them yet they have a problem with kratom, a natural , indigenous plant that people have used for centuries here and is not harmful. I guess if it can grow wild in your yard, companies don't make money off it.

[seancbk]

Nice picture of the police men

With one proudly advertising HEROIN on his T shirt.

says it all

Heroin is a brand name. I have a couple of their shirts and see lots of people wearing them.

Although I do get the irony of a Policeman wearing it as he stand behind 2 innocent leaf chewers!

[dageurreotype]

Nice picture of the police men

With one proudly advertising HEROIN on his T shirt.

says it all

Well spotted. Almost as good as the photo opportunity of Somyot's band of brothers outside a bar with a huge pink sign with 'Suckers' emblazoned on it

[oncearugge]

Boiling the leaves is part of a process during which a multitude of "additives" are mixed with the brew.

There are documented cases of deaths resulting from ingesting this stuff as well as documented cases of acute Psychosis resulting from habitual use.

Harmless?

[Guitar God]

As is common when natural substances are outlawed, adulterants are added. It sounds like the additives are the problem, not the plant.

Cannabis has been used since biblical times, nobody has ever died of an overdose. Governments make it illegal so chemists come up with"Spice", a dangerous synthetic with similar effects except with that crap, people die.

Odd that the safest mood-altering drugs are illegal and the lethal ones like alcohol, tobacco and Spice are ( or were) legal.