Number of Vietnamese drug addicts nearly doubles in five years
HANOI - The number of known drug addicts in Vietnam has almost doubled to
131,733 over the past five years despite a government crackdown,
state-controlled media reported Friday.
The number of known drug addicts has risen by an average of 10
percent to 15 percent a year since 1997, when it stood at 69,780,
the Lao Dong (Labor) newspaper quoted a Ministry of Public Security
report as saying. Drug abuse has spread to students and to the
countryside, it said.
Illegal drug use, mostly heroin, has increased in Vietnam despite
tough punishments, including the death penalty. Last year, 55 people
were sentenced to death for drug-related offenses.
Authorities arrested 11,945 people on drug charges in the first six
months of this year, 2 percent more than in the same period last
year, according to government figures.
Hundreds of inmates have escaped from harsh drug rehabilitation
centers since the government announced earlier this year that all
known drug addicts must be treated for at least a year, up from the
previous three months.
The Associated Press - October 4, 2002.
|