One reason children take amphetamines during exam time is to score better on the exams. This is largely to please the parents, who want to be proud of their children's "superiority" and class. Let me tell you something: There's more to life and happiness than impressing other people. What kind of people do you want to impress? Why? This is an analysis of "values".
Of course, the students take the drugs secretly.
Another reason children take drugs is in response to stress or bad times. It's an escape. This is a major reason adults take ecstasy, too.
Pressure by parents to score high on competitive exams, and to pursue fields of studies according to the parents' interests, are often what fuel drug use. Children are well behaved at home, but secretly go wild in private. Trying to control them more causes the behavior to worsen.
There are some broader issues here. As an American, I see these things from an outsider's perspective.
There are many young Thais pursuing a university degree in a field chosen by their parents, not according to their own natural interests and talents. Likewise, there are people in the workforce who don't enjoy their field of work. They are unhappy, but they conform. Sometimes, they resort to mood-elevating drugs to deal with their unhappiness. This usually starts when they see friends who have become happy temporarily by drugs. So they, too, find happiness in drugs. Temporarily.
The two most common drugs are amphetamines ("ya ba") and ecstasy ("ya E"). They aren't the only two drugs taken, but they are the two most common. Some of the other drugs, manufactured in hidden facilities with poor quality control and careless agents, have terribly poisonous chemicals in them and are similar but far worse than pure amphetamines or ecstasy. Concentrations of all chemicals can vary greatly from pill to pill, from underdose to overdose.
You understand?
The government and newspapers have given excellent coverage to the negative effects of amphetamines ("ya ba", so I will assume you are convinced that amphetamines cause brain damage.
A main chemical in the brain, called "serotonin", plays a role in both happiness and forming memory. It exists around the border between brain cells, and plays a role in linking brain cells.
Ecstasy works by acting upon the machinery of the brain in a way that results in excessive amounts of serotonin being released into the brain, thereby causing artificial happiness and stimulation of the senses. Users excessively love the lights of discotheques, for example.
Unfortunately, this process causes damage to the machinery of the brain. Permanent damage.
After the ecstasy wears off, the person is a little bit less happy and memories don't form quite as easily. Just a little bit.
The reduced happiness results in a stronger desire for ecstasy.
The more times a user takes ecstasy, the more brain damage occurs, and the more they will desire it again after its effects wear off.
As quoted from a leading medical research institution, Johns Hopkins Institute, in Baltimore:
The permanent brain damaging effects in monkeys has been known back to 1995 by dissection of the monkeys' brains 12 to 18 months after they took the ecstasy. The brain cells of monkeys were damaged. In some areas of the brain, the damaged cells recovered, but in other areas of the brain, the damaged cells did not recover at all, and in other sections the damaged cells recovered abnormally.
In humans, we can determine the effects by testing performance, e.g., memory. In studies in which large groups of users and non-users of similar intelligence and background were given tests, ecstasy users have significantly impaired visual and verbal memory compared to those who never took the drug. Memory is something that can be measured. Other effects have also been noted but cannot be measured by numbers, e.g., depression, anxiety, and other mood elements.
The shortterm effects of ecstasy has been well known, as the performance problems are worst in the weeks after taking the drug. What we are finding out now is that the brain recovers some, but does not fully recover, and the longterm effects -- years later -- are still significant. At present, we know of the effects only a few years after taking the drug.
It's also notable that the people with brain damage usually don't think they have brain damage. However, comparing their results on standardized tests to those who never used the drug, the proof is clear in the data and objective scientific analysis.
The lesson here is this: Don't believe people who say ecstasy is harmless. What do they base their belief on? Their wishful thinking. What's right -- wishful thinking or scientific analysis?
Note: Do not report drug use to us. We are not policemen. Report it to the local police station and the schools. If it is your own children, then I suggest you consult with a drug rehabilitation center and one of their psychologists.
It is my opinion that the best solution to the drug problem is by educating people -- reducing "demand". Trying to cut back "supply" is costly, dangerous and sometimes not lasting.
Internationally, priority is placed on stopping the supply of drugs from the Middle East, because certain terrorist groups there are benefitting financially from supplying their enemy countries in the west with drugs. Less effort is put into cutting off supplies from places like Burma and Colombia because those people are just local crooks who pose no terrorist, political threat. If drugs were cut off from Burma and Columbia entirely, then the Middle East terrorist groups would benefit. Thus, Thais will need to solve their own local problems about drugs without much help from the outside world. This is the reality.
Khun Sudarat is following the best policy, e.g., naming another drug "ya ngo" (stupid drug).
What's a good word for "brain damage" in Thai?
You may be surprised to find how many young Thais believe that ecstasy ("ya E") is harmless, and who believe their drug-pushing and drug-taking friends' "wishful thinking" beliefs that it's not harmful.
The scientific facts are clear, and I document the effects of ecstasy later in this article.
First, I'd like to point out that people who have brain damage usually don't think they have brain damage. Likewise, crazy people usually don't think they are crazy. (In fact, they often think everyone else is crazy.) It is important to understand this. Friends will say "I've taken ecstasy many times, but I'm OK". Well, studies show this is not true. Most drug takers perform worse at tasks over time. Those who perform the same are usually trying and working harder than before. If they continue taking drugs, their life always goes on the skids.
I will try to explain in general terms how ecstasy works without getting too technical. Then I will give links to some technical articles and scientific results.
The word "ecstasy" means, according to the American Heritage Dictionary:
A group of ecstasy users and non-users "were injected with a radioactive tracer that binds to molecules of the nerve transporter serotonin, carrier of messages to different parts of the brain.
"Scans showed that former users, even those who had not used the drug for several years, had a significantly lower level of serotonin than did non-users. The more Ecstasy a person had taken during his life, the less serotonin in the brain.
"The researchers, from Johns Hopkins Institutions, Baltimore, found that users all showed damage to the nerve endings in the area of the brain responsible for thought, memory and emotion.
"It is because of the way that Ecstasy affects this part of the brain that it is so popular. Users say it increases emotional intensity and the ability to communicate.
George Ricuarte, leader of the research team, said: ... "Potential consequences of brain damage induced by the drug are not clear, but may include depression, anxiety, memory disturbance and
other neuropsychiatric disorders."
