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YOUTH (TOP PHOTO) SNIFFS
tbinner in Tokyo's Sbinjuku district.
Lying in a trip room, above, addict in
Tbailand smokes opium pipe.
are caught smoking marijuana.
Other governments in the area
take an equally firm line.
lt
is
quite common to see signs at Asían
airports informing Jong-haired and
scruffily d ressed tourists that they
are not welcome.
In MaJaysia, the
Philippines, Burma and Thailand
long jail sentences and sometimes
execution await anyone caught
trafficking in drugs.
Yet problems persist despite
government efforts. In the Philip–
pines, for example, marijuana poses
a growing problem.
Jt
now accounts
for more than 60 percent of drug
abuse cases. Unl ike other countries
14
where people stick mostly to one
drug, the probtem in the Philip–
pines has become one of
polydrug
abuse. Marijuana is often used in
conjunctlon with legal cough prep–
arations, tranquilizers and alcohol,
creating often dangerous, combined
effects. The erosion of traditionally
strong family ties, as well as grow–
ing peer-group pressure, is being
cited as a major reason for the
mounting problem- among the
youth. The government is now
redoubling its efforts to eradicate
the menace.
Sorne in the West have been criti–
ca! of what they consider to be sever–
ity and harshness in these societies
where drugs have been part of tbe
way of life for centuries.
But the Asían governments have
seen that there is a great difference
between the traditional use of
homegrown narcotics by tbe old
and the sick, and the ever increas–
ing dependence upon hard drugs by
the youth, on whom a nation's
future depends. They have seen the
correlation between drug abuse by
the young, and an increasing lack
of purpose in life. Whether they
can succeed in stemming the tide of
Westero intluence in the media and
through commerce remains to be
seen. For drug and alcohol abuse is
on the increase in this part of the
world, as it is nearly everywhere
else.
Australia, bordering as it does on
Asia, is an example of the problem of
alcohol abuse. Though the use of
illegal drugs is increasing somewhat,
by far the greatest continuing prob–
lem in that country is alcohol abuse.
More than a quai-ter of a million
Australians are alcoholics and 1.2
million (out of a population of 14
million) are personally affected in
sorne way by alcohol abuse (family
members, for example).
One in every five hospital beds is
occupied by a person suffering the
adverse effects of alcohol. A report
by the Austral ian Senate has termed
the growing problem "a potential
national disaster." Yet, because of a
tradition of heavy drinking, most
Australians do not recognize alcohol
as being a probtem.
One notable success story, by con–
trast, is the People's Republic of
China. Until 1949, China had the
world's worst narcotic abuse prob–
lem-the sad story of the opium
trade that was financed and abetted
by Western commercial interests has
been wel l documented. By the
1920s,
25 percent
of China's vast
population used opium.
In 1950 Chinese Premier Chou
En Lai signed an order prohibiting
the drug. Within a few years the
opium trade was eliminated, and
today the problem to all intents and
purposes does not exist.
lt is interesting to notice to what
the Chinese ascribe their success.
They are firm believers in the fact
that a problem such as drug addic–
tion cannot be simply suppressed-it
must be replaced with something.
The Chinese did not only forci–
bly prohibit the cultivat ion, manu–
facture and sale of opium, they
infused their people-particularly
the young- with a sense of national
purpose. By changing the purpose
and direction of the li fe of their
young people, the Chinese effec–
tively cut off the supply of new
addicts!
Needed - A Goal Higher t han Sel f
T here is a lesson here. Whether or
not one agrees with the Chinese'
ideology, it cannot be denied that
the Revolut ion replaced chronic
drug addiction with a pride in the
nation and a renewed purpose.
' All over the world we see that
drug and alcohol use among the
(Continued on page 38)
The PLAIN TRUTH