Govt ends’ gap’ after open concern
PUBLISHED: 18 May 2024 at 05: 02
The Public Health Ministry has suggested lowering the legal maximum number of meth tablets, or ya ba, from the latest five-figure level to one in order to close a gap that advantages drug dealers.
Public Health Minister Somsak Thepsuthin on Friday  , chaired a meeting featuring staff from the Public Health Ministry, the Interior Ministry, the Office of the Attorney General, the Royal Thai Police, the Office of the Judiciary, the Office of the Narcotics Control Board and the Office of the Council of State.
According to Mr. Somsak, the conference, which was held to review governmental regulations regarding the constitutional categories of drug possession, discovered a clear distinction between substance users and drug dealers based on the quantity of meth pills they possess.
He said that those who take one pill of meth or less than 20 milligrammes of the substance in powder or other type may be presumed to remain drug users.
However, he added that if a further analysis discovers a person who has a history of drug use, they could still be a vendor despite the discovery of just one tablet.
” I would like to point out that it is illegal to possess yet one meth tablet, and whether or not the person in possession is a person or a seller is proven. If they are a customer, they must receive]rehabilitation ] care”, he said.
The minister claimed that possessing one pill could result in the seizure of a person’s assets in light of the adage” One client leads to one vendor, one producer, and then one maker.”
Additionally, participants at the meeting came to an agreement to lower the dosage of amphetamine as a private drug to less than 100 milligrammes.
The outcomes appeared on the agency’s website to promote public sessions from yesterday.
He further explained that the rule change was made in a bid to be more in line with the drug-suicide law and was in answer to people’s concerns about the five-pill law, which has been criticized as a possible gap for drug dealers to avoid sentence for the more serious crimes of selling or delivering.
In terms of drug treatment, Mr. Somsak claimed he had given the government the order to assist the Ministry of Justice’s Department of Behaviour Control in accommodating the treatment of more than 100, 000 people who had mild drug-related signs.
A substitute intravenous treatments will be used for those in the extreme habit group who have been treated and discharged but also require assistance, according to Jirapong Songwatcharaphon, assistant spokesperson of the Ministry of Public Health, Political Department.
” This will help mentally ill patients, and it is great for those who abuse to take their medication as prescribed, which may lead to missed solutions”, Mr Jirapong said.