With the assistance of the Mon New Agency, four villages from Yebyu Township came together at Dham-ma-Pi-ya monastery in Kwal TaLin Village to discuss the social, economic, health and educational impacts of drug abuse in their communities. About 50 representatives from the Ah Lae Sakhan, Kyauk Ka Din, Kwal TaLin, and Yarbuu villages came together for the community forum.
Four villages from Yebyu Township have collaborated to organize a forum at Dham-ma-Pi-ya monastery in Kwal TaLin Village designed to reduce illicit drug abuse in their communities. Over 60 representatives from the Ah Lae Sakhan, Kyauk Ka Din, Kwal TaLin, and Yarbuu villages came together to discuss this issue.
“Drug related-issues has been on the rise in Yebyu Township. Problems related to drug abuse have been affecting education and people’s lives. I want the village head administrator to control and [enable] more arrests,” said Mehn Shone Mea from Yarbuu Village.
Drug use in Yebyu Township has doubled every year. A popular drug is called crystal methamphetamine. It is also commonly known as ‘ice’ or ‘glass because it comes in clear crystal chunks or shiny blue white rocks, and because users usually smoke crystal meth in a glass pipe, but they may also swallow, snort or inject it into a vein. This drug has become widely used in the area, according to the youth from Yarbuu Village.
“As a village administrator, we do help to detain as well as control drug related-issues. However, we are also concerned about our lives once [drug users] get released. For this reason, everyone from village administrator teams to the public should collaborate and work on [this issue] together,” said Nai Chan Toik, Kwal Ta Lin village Administrator.
Local police officers do arrest drug dealers and users, but the presence of the drug has been on-going for at least 3 years now.
“A police officer has a full responsibility to minimize the drug problem, but we should not just wait for the government to take action on the issue. For example, village administrators and people can help with arresting drug users then let a police officer take care of the security matter,” said a youth from Kwal Ta Lin village.
The participants in the forum discussed how the drug has impacted education, health, the economy and society as a whole. The outcomes of the discussions will be gathered and made into a report to present to the government, Hluttaw, and the public.
The Human Rights Foundation of Monland’s (HURFOM) conducted research on drug abuse in Mon State in 2013, revealing at that time, 38% of youth had used drugs. The Mon Youth Progressive Organization (MYPO) did similar research in 2017 revealing that usage had jumped to as high as 73%.
