The scourge of methamphetamine reared its ugly head in a sacred coven as a group of holy men were surprisingly confirmed to be drug addicts.
This occured in a Buddhist temple in central Thailand that has been left without monks after all of its holy men failed drug tests and were defrocked, a local official said Tuesday.
Four monks, including an abbot, at a temple in Phetchabun province’s Bung Sam Phan district tested positive for methamphetamine on Monday, district official Boonlert Thintapthai told AFP.
The monks have been sent to a health clinic to undergo drug rehabilitation, the official said.
“The temple is now empty of monks and nearby villagers are concerned they cannot do any merit-making,” he said. Merit-making involves worshippers donating food to monks as a good deed.
Boonlert said more monks will be sent to the temple to allow villagers to practice their religious obligations.
Thailand is a major transit country for methamphetamine flooding in from Myanmar’s troubled Shan state via Laos, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
On the street, meth pills, called Yaba, sell for less than 20 baht (around $0.50).
“Meth and particularly Yaba can be easily found in every corner of [Thailand] — supply is up everywhere, and at this point, a tablet is cheaper than a beer,” UNODC’s Jeremy Douglas told Thai Inquirer.
Authorities across Southeast Asia and around the globe have made record meth seizures in recent months.
Last month, Hong Kong reportedly made its biggest ever seizure of meth, finding 1.8 metric tons of liquid meth hidden in cartons of coconut water en route for Australia.
In August, authorities found 2 tons of meth hidden in marble tiles shipped from the Middle East to Sydney in what police describe as the largest-ever seizure of the illicit drug in Australia.
Also in August, Mexican soldiers seized almost 1.5 tons of meth and 328 pounds of apparent powdered fentanyl at a checkpoint in the northern state of Sonora.
In July, more than 5,000 pounds of meth was found in a record-breaking seizure in Southern California.
Brandpowerng reports that earlier in November the Chairman, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), retired Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa charged parents and other stakeholders to rise up to the challenge of ensuring that illicit substances were kept away from young Nigerians.
Marwa warned that complacency was capable of compromising the bright future ahead of the youth population.
Marwa said “let me leave us with a thought-provoking submission about the danger of complacency in tackling drug abuse among youths.
“By 2030, demographic factors project the number of people using drugs to rise by 11 per cent around the world, and as much as 40 per cent in Africa alone.
“This is an early warning that we should all take serious and ensure that we keep our young people away from dangerous substances that compromise the bright future ahead of them, ” he said.
The NDLEA boss said that instead of benefitting from the advantages of the huge youth population in Nigeria, the reverse might be the case.
This, he said, would be if relevant stakeholders failed to stand up and join ongoing efforts against the drug scourge.
According to him, “It is globally recognised that one of Africa’s comparative advantages is its huge youth population.
“This country, Nigeria, for instance, has no less than 151 million young people, accounting for 70% of our estimated 217 million population.
“Most of us don’t know what that means. Youth means creativity, strength, resourcefulness and productivity.
“But how do we rake in these benefits when a significant number of this population is involved in the abuse of illicit substances?
“The truth is instead of a boom, they could become a burden because of abuse of illicit substances, “he said.
Marwa said that in response to whole-of-society approaches needed to ensure that people, young people most of all, have the information and develop the resilience to make good choices, especially as it relates to drug abuse.
He said that the NDLEA had initiated some youth focused measures to safeguard them against the pressures and temptations of going into drugs.
