For a while there, it appeared that Thailand and the military regime were preparing to take new steps to update the worn and losing campaign against illicit drugs. Instead, the people in charge of reforming and modifying policies have largely doubled down on the old ones. The losing ways of the country's war on drugs will remain in place and dominate the amended and now patchwork Narcotics Control Bill.
The bill is currently under discussion by the regime-appointed National Legislative Assembly (NLA). The true state of affairs, however, is that the future direction of drug policy is clear. The "new" 183-section law stresses and emphasises the same old steps: crackdowns, raids, arrests, imprisonment. It is as if the regime and its NLA and Constitution Drafting Committee have considered that while drug policies of the past have clearly failed, that is simply a sign that there has not been enough enforcement and prison time.
The good news first, because there isn't much. There are new articles in the now bloated Act that mention drug abuse. Nominally, they allow for reduced penalties instead of the almost mandatory imprisonment of the former bill. The new law, presuming it passes the NLA -- almost a certainty -- will allow for rehabilitation.
And that pretty much concludes the "reform" part of what seems destined to be the new law. As usual, the regime and its appointees have neither invited nor welcomed the public's comments. Last week, the director of a credible group, the Foundation for Aids Rights (FAR), offered some thoughts and received short shrift. The United Nations, recommending attention to the dignity of drug addicts, received no acknowledgement at all.
When it comes to "rehabilitation", the goivernment authors of this amended Narcotics Control Act probably believe they are acting in an advanced and modern manner. They are not, and here are the areas in which the public, and especially knowledgeable experts disagree.
Police will continue to administer drug tests, specifically urine tests, for use in declaring who is a drug abuser. Officers have little if any education for this. The refusal by police and the regime to use trained public health officials often means the process is marred from the start. But it gets worse, as it always has.
Law enforcement will have the only word on who will qualify for rehabilitation over prison. The rehabilitation will not be voluntary, but forced. There is one forlorn hope by informed groups like the Raks Thai Foundation support group: that true experts will conduct the rehab sessions. As of now, this seems highly unlikely and rehab will probably continue as a coercive course, almost as encouraging to recidivism as prison itself.
Meanwhile, the prime minister's Office of Narcotics Control Board (ONCB) will continue as usual to lead the war on drugs. The ONCB was set up in 1976, and its very name harks back to the bad old days when the drug wars involved opium and heroin. Its mission has always emphasised chasing drug smugglers and peddlers, and that will not change now.
Thailand is unique, as both a major importer of illicit drugs for a large population of abusers, and a major exporter to the world. Its open policies to trade and tourism work against efforts to control the drug flows.
It is crystal clear that both Thai and international efforts to stop criminal drug trafficking have failed. Already, drug abusers and petty sellers are 70% of the prison population. Adding to that number, even by forced rehab efforts, will not provide any of the steps needed for true reform of our outdated policies on illicit drugs.
