Re: Drug Abuse among VN Youth

[ianb@sun670.telecom.tandem.com (Ian Bui)]

RE:

> Hanoi (dpa) -- A  Vietnamese provincial court has sentenced a
> 28-year-old unemployed man to death for selling opium, the 20th time
> capital punishment has been meted out for a drug trafficking conviction,
> a news report said Saturday.   

Does anybody know what "the 20th time capital punishment
has been meted out..." means, or "20th time" since when? 
Thanks.

> Tran Xuan Thi, 28, told police he had carried more than 80 kilogrammes
> of opium from the northern part of the country to more prosperous
> southern provinces during 11 trips made over the past two years, Lao
> Dong (Labour) newspaper reported.

Sounds to me like the system should use Mr. Thi to track
down his employers and his clients, not kill him. After all, 
as long as drug manufacturers and drug users remain, there's 
a very good chance that other Thi's will appear to take the 
dead Thi's place, as suggested below:

> Thi started working as a drug courier soon after being 
> laid off from a state textile company in Nam Dinh province.  

That is to say, economic necessities will continue to drive
some people into this line of work. But as the risks of drug
smuggling increases (e.g. death) I would bet that the cost 
to end users will also rise, as there will be fewer people
who choose this career and therefore their stash become
more valuable on the market.

In a market for "normal" commodities, price increases usually 
reduce consumer demand. In the drug market, however, price hikes 
may trigger a rise in other crimes such as robbery, theft, and 
even murder. Indeed, this is a problem the US of A has been 
struggling with for a long time. It will be interesting to 
see how the US Drug Traffic task force in VN (I've forgotten
its official name) will work with VNmese government to stem
this problem.

I'm against the death penalty in general, but in some situations
it is the only deterrence that gets people's attention, such as 
the case with VN's society at this junction in history. Still, 
don't you feel it's inhumane to stand a laid off state-company
worker in front of a firing squad, especially when he's not the
cause but more like a victim of the problem? Don't you think our
people are cynical enough as it is? (Rhetorical questions only,
no need to answer :)) But the following are real questions that 
I would appreciate some answers to:

I've been wondering why drug abuse among students and young 
people in VN is on the rise. Is it because drugs are more 
available and/or affordable? Or are drugs more available 
because there is increasing demand? Are young people just
"experimenting" (like American kids in the 60's) or are
there deeper social problems and unrest at work?

Thanks,
Ian