The Bangkok Post carried an article on December 9th (already removed from their servers, but available here) describing how young Muslims are able to get around the ban on alcohol by using a traditional medicinal herb.
“As Thais rejoice over the 4×100 SEA Games gold medal in the women’s relay event, police are fretting over the 4×100 formula, a drugs cocktail popular in the deep South.”
“The illegal mixture is made by brewing kratom leaves (mitragyna speciosa) in hot water and then mixing the dark green juice with a soft drink, cough syrup and tranquilisers. The popular cocktail has been named “4 times 100″. The origin of the name is unclear, but it likely came from its four ingredients.”
“Police say Pattani’s Khok Pho district is the centre of the kratom juice supply. It is adjacent to Songkhla’s Saba Yoi district, particularly Ban Node, where kratom trees flourish naturally along many waterways. The district police station is making an average five raids per month, rounding up at least 10 offenders each time. But the raids have failed to discourage users because the penalty under the Narcotics Control Act is too lenient. Since a kratom leaf is only a category 5 narcotic, the maximum jail sentence under the act is only one year. Pol Lt-Col Panya Karawanan said in many cases the court gave suspended sentences because the offenders were in their teens. Police now use section 12 of the Medicines Act, which interprets the making of the cocktail as production of an unlicensed medicine, because it has cough syrup as an ingredient. This offence carries a maximum five years in jail.”
“Since Islam prohibits drinking alcohol, many Muslim teenagers are turning to 4×100 to get high,” Pol Lt-Col Panya said. “Many insurgent suspects admit they drank 4×100 before carrying out their missions of destruction.”
At the end of the article a local hospital director comments that extensive use of Kratom can lead to addiction, convulsions and paranoia. He indicated that serious crime doesn’t seem to come from its use, except for illegally felling trees.
If you are interested in learning more about Kratom, Wikipedia has an article available here.