Because of a reported increase in methamphetamine use in Battambang, NGOs and government organizations will conduct a large-scale anti-drug education program, NGO officials said.
Sar Phea Rhim, director of the Cambodia Social Science Study Group, an NGO involved in drug education in Battambang, said the campaign will take place on Oct 20 and Oct 21, during Battambang’s boat races. The campaign will be run in conjunction with the UN Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention, the National Authority for Combating Drugs, CSSSG and provincial authorities.
About 30,000 leaflets will be distributed to people taking part in the boat races or participating in the festivities. Distribution of the leaflets will be handled by provincial officials, students and the crew of a well known boat, said Sar Phea Rhim. Six tents will be set up to educate revelers on the ill effects of drug use, he added.
According to an unofficial survey conducted by CSSSG in September, at least 327 people in Battambang province between the ages of 13 and 25 are debilitated by their addiction to methamphetamines.
The survey found that some 15,882 people in the province use methamphetamines, a figure that provincial Governor Prach Chan disputes. He said that provincial authorities have cracked down on trafficking and arrested methamphetamine dealers.
“I don’t think the users have increased, because we have cracked down on them,” he said.
Provincial officials would like to open up a rehabilitation center for addicts that will provide free treatment, but finding funding has been difficult, Prach Chan said.
Some 127 drug users were arrested across the country in the first nine months of 2002, 82 of whom were students while the remainder were sex workers or manual laborers, according to a National Authority for Combating Drugs report.
“Drug use seems to have increased because more pills are available and they are cheaper than in the past,” said Sar Phea Rhim, adding that two years ago a methamphetamine pill cost around $2, but the price is now half that.
