Drug 'ice' abuse queried

Drug 'ice' abuse queried

SINGAPORE (AFP): Singapore expressed concern Saturday over
growing abuse of the designer drug "ice" among the young in
Southeast Asia.

"The abuse of ice, especially, is spreading quickly among
younger persons in Southeast Asia, overtaking traditional plant-
based narcotic drugs to become the main drug of abuse in some of
the countries," Home Minister Wong Kan Seng told the opening a
national seminar on drug abuse.

Ice, whose scientific name is methamphetamine, looks like
clear chunky crystals in its raw form. It is broken down into
powder to be snorted, smoked or injected. Unlike heroin, which is
a depressant, ice is a stimulant and peps up the user almost
instantly.

The seminar heard that Thailand and the Philippines had both
reported "exponential" increases in the abuse of ice derivative,
"yaba and "shabu" respectively, while Singapore, which has tough
anti-drug laws, detected ice abusers increased from five in 1996
to 117 last year.