Thai Community--Based Correctional Programmes for Narcotics Addicts in Response to the 2002 Rehabilitation Act: A System Approach (From Resource Material Series No. 64, P 94-107, 2004, Simon Cornell, ed. -- See NCJ-209027)

• NCJ Number: 209035
• Author(s): Decha Sungkawan Ph.D.
• Date Published: October 2004
• Length: 14 pages
• Sale Source: United Nations Asia and Far East Institute for the Prevention of Crime and Treatment of Offenders
• Publication Format: Book Chapter
• Publication Type: Legislation/Policy Description
• Language: English
• Country: Japan

Annotation

After an overview of the current situation regarding illicit drugs and drug addiction in Thailand, this paper discusses the magnitude and distribution of drug addicts in the country, dealing with drug-using offenders in the Thai criminal justice system, the country's drug control policy, Thai drug legislation, and its community correctional drug treatment programs.

Abstract

Drug abuse has been recognized as one of the most serious social problems in Thai society for decades. Methamphetamine is currently the most problematic in terms of the supply volume and the number of abusers in the population. Under Thai law, all activities related to dealing in and consuming illicit drugs are criminal offenses, which has tended to overburden criminal justice agencies in processing and providing programs for drug offenders. The current Thai Government has declared a "war" on drugs and made drug control one of its top priorities. The drug control policy places prevention measures ahead of suppression measures and emphasizes treatment for drug users and severe punishment for drug traffickers. The operational strategy of drug control is to have local communities mount comprehensive, multifaceted programs that address all the factors related to the drug problem. This paper explains the provisions of Thailand's Narcotics Addict Rehabilitation Act B.E. 2545 enacted in 2002. This act has deemphasized the criminality of drug users and drug addicts by promoting a medical model for dealing with drug abuse as a sickness that requires health care services. This has been achieved by transferring major decisions regarding the response to drug users from the criminal justice agencies to the Narcotics Addict Rehabilitation Commission, which promotes community-based correctional drug rehabilitation programs. The paper concludes with a description of these programs as well as a discussion of some of the issues and problems associated with the implementation of the Narcotics Addict Rehabilitation Act. 14 tables