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.