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31-10-2024, 04:11 PM
MAE SOT, Thailand In a drug treatment centre in a wooden stilt house deep in Thai jungle, refugees from Myanmar wait patiently for prick of an acupuncture needle among thousands become addicted to methamphetamine & other synthetic drugs have flooded camps housing those forced to flee their homes by Myanmar’s civil war.
Myanmar’s junta ousted Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s govt in a Feb 2021 coup, igniting a conflict that has killed 1,000+, displaced nearly 3 mil folks & triggered a boom in drug production. A drug rehabilitation program across border in Thailand, run by former addicts is trying to help stem rising tide of addiction in young living in camps, addict
pseudonym associated with addiction.
“They end up taking drugs. Drugs are easy to find in camps,” 34-yr-old told AFP, camp in remote forest loc in Thailand’s western province of Tak.
The Drug & Alcohol Recovery Education (DARE) rehabilitation center, funded by UN & other aid agencies, uses acupuncture as part of regimen , along with massages to reduce drug cravings & yoga to help manage intense withdrawal pains, group op in 5 refugee camps & more than 40 villages in Myanmar’s Karen stats claims a 60% success rate for its 90-day treatment program.
It did not allow AFP to speak to any of its patients or former cases, saying doing so would violate its treatment principles. Cheaper than beer’ more than 3 yrs of conflict in Myanmar combined with easy availability of drugs created a “perfect storm”, Edward a director at DARE, told AFP,
trauma from people who fled their homes and saw their relatives killed and an abundant supply of drugs and a sense of hopelessness,” he said.
As conflict has also seen law enforcement wither, enabling drug gangs to ramp up production.
The “Golden Triangle” region where Myanmar, Thailand and Laos meet has long been a hub for the illegal drug trade. UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) report this yr methamphetamine production has “significantly increased”, sending wholesale prices of drug’s crystal form crashing from over US$10,000 a tonne in 2019 to $4,000 a tonne in 2023. On streets, in camps, a tablet of “yaba”—a potent mix of methamphetamine caffeine—can be bot for small change,“cheap very cheap, really easy for people to buy drugs,” Benedikt Hofmann UNODC’s Southeast Asia and Pacific deputy representative, told AFP.
https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/myanmars-...rehab.html
Myanmar’s junta ousted Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s govt in a Feb 2021 coup, igniting a conflict that has killed 1,000+, displaced nearly 3 mil folks & triggered a boom in drug production. A drug rehabilitation program across border in Thailand, run by former addicts is trying to help stem rising tide of addiction in young living in camps, addict
pseudonym associated with addiction.
“They end up taking drugs. Drugs are easy to find in camps,” 34-yr-old told AFP, camp in remote forest loc in Thailand’s western province of Tak.
The Drug & Alcohol Recovery Education (DARE) rehabilitation center, funded by UN & other aid agencies, uses acupuncture as part of regimen , along with massages to reduce drug cravings & yoga to help manage intense withdrawal pains, group op in 5 refugee camps & more than 40 villages in Myanmar’s Karen stats claims a 60% success rate for its 90-day treatment program.
It did not allow AFP to speak to any of its patients or former cases, saying doing so would violate its treatment principles. Cheaper than beer’ more than 3 yrs of conflict in Myanmar combined with easy availability of drugs created a “perfect storm”, Edward a director at DARE, told AFP,
trauma from people who fled their homes and saw their relatives killed and an abundant supply of drugs and a sense of hopelessness,” he said.
As conflict has also seen law enforcement wither, enabling drug gangs to ramp up production.
The “Golden Triangle” region where Myanmar, Thailand and Laos meet has long been a hub for the illegal drug trade. UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) report this yr methamphetamine production has “significantly increased”, sending wholesale prices of drug’s crystal form crashing from over US$10,000 a tonne in 2019 to $4,000 a tonne in 2023. On streets, in camps, a tablet of “yaba”—a potent mix of methamphetamine caffeine—can be bot for small change,“cheap very cheap, really easy for people to buy drugs,” Benedikt Hofmann UNODC’s Southeast Asia and Pacific deputy representative, told AFP.
https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/myanmars-...rehab.html
