Drug Seizures

[firecat69]

We all know drugs are a problem in Thailand and all over the world.

 

But some of us may forget just how prevalent it is in Thailand.

 

This is a pretty big seizure in Thailand, but is a drop in the bucket I am sure.

 

Some day maybe we can eradicate the worst of them??

 

 

follow this link:        http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/369812/168000-yaba-pills-252kg-of-ganja-seized

[vinapu]

One hopes you are right about eradication but it is long shot.

 

It seems that nothing works and no nation seems to be brave enough to legalize it in order to be able to control usage and distribution better.

Not that I'm advocate of legalizing but it nothing works may be trying new approach will.

 

By the way, if somebody passed through Taipei airport recently, do they still have those big signs " Consumption and distribution of drugs is penalized by death in the Republic of China" ?

 Saw plenty of those when transiting to BKK  few years back

[Bob]

Rather frustrating topic.  There are some drugs just too dangerous to legalize but, on the other hand, the war on drugs has been a miserable failure that's probably cost society (crime to feed drug habits, cost of the criminal process and incarceration, etc.) more than if we just legalized everything. Hell if I know.

[kokopelli]

Users should not be penalized unless they commit a crime.

[Rogie]

There was a big problem in Thailand not so long ago when batches of ephedrine disappeared from hospital inventories, the strong suspicion being it was used as an ingredient in metamphetamine production.

 

Doing a search engine throws up sites that will tell you how to make it, so it is all in the public domain. (Note to mods: apologies if the forum doesn't approve so feel free to delete this post if so).

 

The production of methamphetamine -- and the desire to consume it -- is seemingly unstoppable. When precursor chemicals are brought under tight control in one country, like the United States, production simply moves to another country, such as Mexico. When Mexican authorities clamp down, it moves farther south, or into Europe or Asia. Then, the finished product is shipped right back into the very countries that have waged such a battle to get it out.

 

Most meth in the United States is made in large labs --"superlabs"-- in Mexico. There are many small meth labs in operation in the United States, but these mostly serve to feed the habits of the amateur cooks themselves.

 

­The production of methamphetamine has been made more difficult by federal regulations aimed at controlling the flow of precursor chemicals such as ephedrine and pseudoephedrine, as well as other necessary components. Through theft, subterfuge, forgeries, personal connections and sheer willpower, determined cooks are able to collect enough materials to make some home-grown meth.

 

Being determined and being safe are two different things -- almost 6 pounds (2.7 kilograms) of toxic material is produced for each pound of meth cooked. This fact, however, doesn't stop crystal meth addicts from brewing sloppy batches of fuming, stinking, toxic speed in poorly ventilated environments. Houses used as meth labs are often uninhabitable afterward, and cities and states involved in meth lab busts often don't bother with seizing the property, since nobody in their right mind would purchase it at an auction, even at a steep discount. Small meth labs can be found in suburban houses, motel rooms, car trunks, in campsites or in the woods. Outdoor operations often result in water contamination and a dying-off of nearby vegetation.

 

Large-scale labs are often located inside abandoned barns or warehouses set up specifically for the purpose of factory-line production of methamphetamine. Although superlabs only make up 4 percent of total labs, they produce about 80 percent of the meth that winds up on the street.

 

Much as a destination can be reached by taking one of several different routes, so too can crystal methamphetamine be produced by a number of different methods. All of them, though, involve ephedrine or pseudoephedrine. The entire process can involve as many as 32 different chemicals.

 

 

http://science.howstuffworks.com/meth3.htm

 

Although discussing the situation in the US and Mexico, meth labs in Thailand,, Burma or anywhere in the world will use similar methods.

 

As for marijuana, I see the stuff mentioned in the OP article was smuggled in from Laos (doesn't mean it was produced there, but no matter as it's relatively easy to make). We are experiencing a big problem in the UK.

 

No wonder! A simple search comes up with many sites selling cannabis seeds by mail order.

 

A sophisticated cannabis factory that produced up to £4m worth of the drug has been discovered inside a derelict building in Dartford, Kent.

 

Up to 6,000 cannabis plants were found in the empty office block near the centre of town in West Hill, following a tip-off on Monday when a member of the public saw someone clambering in through a window.

 

Police estimate the drug factory, which included extensive lighting and ventilation equipment, produced cannabis estimated at between £2m and £4m. Ian Learmonth, the chief constable of Kent Police, said it was unclear whether the drugs were intended to be used on the county’s streets or elsewhere.

 

As well as a number of mattresses on the floor, police discovered rooms piled high with leftover soil, empty soil bags and containers of chemicals required to cultivate cannabis on an industrial scale.

 

 

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/major-cannabis-factory-found-inside-disused-kent-office-block-8788556.html

 

That's just one report. There have been many other instances; a typical method has the growers rent a rural property away from prying eyes and using it to grow the plants. Other times they use a property smack bang in the middle of town. The potential money to be made makes people take these risks.

 

Finally, apparently there is a word opiophilia, a 'love of opioids'. Here is a blog devoted to it.

 

http://opiophilia.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/how-heroin-is-made.html