Increasing numbers of teenagers continue to use drugs, especially amphetamines, which is threatening the nation's younger generations, senior officials have said.
Director of Somsanga Rehabilitation Centre in Vientiane, Mr Sisouphanh Boupha, told Vientiane Times yesterday that the number of serious drug users presenting at the centre for treatment is rising, most notably from the provinces.
“New arrivals from the capital are tending to decrease but numbers from the provinces are on the up, so much so that the total amount of people coming here is actually increasing,” he said, adding that this poses grave concerns.
In 2012, over 2,880 drug users arrived at the centre for treatment, of which 158 were females, an increase from 2,631 people the year before.
At the moment, 1,541 patients are being treated at the centre, of which teenagers make up 25 percent.
The centre has discovered that the main reason teenagers are tempted to use drugs is because of family problems, while some faced pressure from friends who were already taking them.
Mr Sisouphanh stated that many drug users who were successfully treated have relapsed and often return several times more for help.
He explained that there are three main factors contributing to rehabilitated people choosing to reuse again – lack of acceptance from parents, societal issues and unemployment.
“Those who have been recently treated are very sensitive. They need special care and understanding from their parents and society,” he said.
“If parents keep suspecting their children of drug use and question them, then they may just rebel against them and begin another serious phase of use.”
Director of the Drug Addict Rehabilitation Centre in Champassak province, Mr Kongkhan Phonchaleun, agreed that drug use by younger people poses a concern, indicating that the majority of those presenting for treatment at his centre are teenagers still in school.
In 2012, the centre treated over 1,000 drug users in a period of between two and four months.
He stated that these patients had previously posed a threat to the public by suggesting that they were involved in gunpoint robberies, thievery and bag snatchings.
In addition to this, Vientiane Education and Sports Department also expressed concerns that it might be unable to certify all 143 private and state primary and secondary schools as drug-free by 2015, saying that the growing trend of drug use by students will hinder this. Since the drug-free school programme was launched in 2005, the department has issued drug-free certificates to 40 schools.
The Lao National Commission for Drug Control and Supervision reported that trafficking of narcotics in Laos is on the increase. The number of people involved in opium poppy cultivation is also on the rise.
Last year, law enforcement officers seized drugs and arrested suspects in more than 1,000 incidents. They arrested about 2,000 people, including over 400 women and more than 50 foreigners.
Authorities seized 55 kg of heroin, 1,200 kg of methamphetamine tablets, 199 kg of opium and 2,266 kg of dried cannabis.
