Amphetamine possession review by health minister sparks debate

The maximum number of amphetamine pills one can possess without facing criminal prosecution is under review, as revealed by Public Health Minister Somsak Thepsutin. A meeting scheduled for Thursday, May 16, aims to reassess this limit, currently set at five pills.

The existing regulation, enacted under previous Public Health Minister Cholnan Srikaew on February 9, designates individuals found with five or fewer methamphetamine pills as drug users eligible for rehabilitation rather than criminal charges.

“Even those who are found with just one pill must be arrested and face asset seizures.”

This regulation, however, has sparked extensive debate surrounding the rise in drug usage. Somsak, having recently taken office as Public Health Minister, stated that the upcoming meeting on May 16 would determine a new limit.

Following the meeting, a 15-day public feedback period will ensue before the proposal proceeds to the cabinet for approval.

Somsak highlighted the necessity of cracking down on drug trafficking, suggesting that the confiscation of narcotics-related assets could be instrumental in curtailing the country’s drug issues, proposing that courts should determine whether individuals found with narcotics should be directed towards rehabilitation or stand trial, reported Bangkok Post.

In related news, in a dramatic pre-dawn operation, at 1.50am this morning, Thai police intercepted a teenage drug courier in Chiang Mai province, seizing nearly one million methamphetamine pills hidden in his pickup truck. The teenage driver admitted to being paid 80,000 baht for the illicit transport.

In a separate incident, local officers from Na Ngiew Police Station and border patrol police swooped down on Phukhao Thong village in Ban Mueang subdistrict, uncovering a labyrinthine web of drug smuggling. Nestled in the Sangkhom district of Nong Khai province, this clandestine operation bordered Laos.

Upon arrival, the officers stumbled upon four shadowy figures ferrying cardboard boxes into a nondescript house. Police Lieutenant General Sarayut Sanguanphokhai, commissioner of Provincial Police Region 4, revealed that officers found that the 20 cardboard boxes contained heroin.