The Ministry of Public Health is pushing for a ban on meth

The Ministry of Public Health is seeking to make regulatory changes where anyone possessing more than one methamphetamine tablet, rather than five or more tablets at present, will be regarded as an offender and not be sent to rehab.

The ministry has proposed dropping the controversial regulation specifying that anyone caught with five or more meth tablets in their possession will be treated as an offender.

However, the regulation was widely criticised for creating a loophole in which anyone possessing between one and four meth tablets is regarded as a drug addict requiring rehab, who is, therefore, able to evade a possible prison sentence.

The ministry under the previous minister, Dr Cholnan Srikaew, introduced the five-or-more-tablets-for-offender regulation. However, critics say that his successor, Somsak Thepsutin, has caved in to social pressure, which is why he is seeking to drop the cut-off point for an offender from five tablets or more down to one tablet.

The ministry has submitted to the cabinet for consideration a draft regulatory amendment to that effect.

Lowering the cut-off to one tablet has won support from more than 90% of participants at recent public hearings conducted on the proposed amendment, Mr Somsak said on Thursday.

Apart from possessing no more than one meth tablet, in order to be defined legally as a drug addict, the person must inform the police where they obtained the drug so that investigators can trace the suppliers and dealers.

Mr Somsak said separating drug addicts from dealers allows the former to get access to proper rehab and lessen prison overcrowding.

He said the ministry has also assigned the Department of Mental Health to step up the coordination work to secure proper treatment for drug addicts while waiting for the draft amendment to be passed.

Meanwhile, Mr Somsak on Thursday received a petition submitted to him by the Youth Network Against Cannabis (YNAC) along with 100,000 signatures of people supporting the government's bid to reclassify cannabis as a narcotic drug.

A survey conducted by Nida Poll on April 5-29 found 44% of respondents were highly satisfied with the government's drug suppression policy, while 41% said their level of satisfaction with the policy has remained unchanged in the last six months.

According to the survey, 12% said their satisfaction with the drug suppression policy and its implementation has dropped.