Methamphetamine use and correlates in two villages of the highland ethnic Karen minority in northern Thailand: a cross sectional study

A cross-sectional survey examined Karen villagers from a developed and a less-developed village on February 24 and March 26, 2003 to evaluate the prevalence and social correlates of methamphetamine use in northern Thailand. Data were collected in face-to-face interviews using a structured questionnaire.The response rate was 79.3% (n = 548). In all, 9.9% (males 17.6%, females 1.7%) of villagers reported methamphetamine use in the previous year. Methamphetamine was used mostly by males and was significantly related to primary or lower education; to ever having worked in town; to having used opium, marijuana, or heroin in the past year; and to ever having been diagnosed with a sexually transmitted infection (STI).Since labor migration to towns is increasingly common among ethnic minorities, the prevention of methamphetamine use and of HIV/STI infection among methamphetamine users should be prioritized to prevent HIV in this minority population in Thailand.Historically, Thailand was once notorious for its opium production, which started in the late nineteenth century and continued until the mid twentieth century [1]. However, in modern Thailand methamphetamine is the most popular illicit drug. Of all new hospital admissions for drug treatment in Thailand in 2006, 75.6% (n = 29,235) of patients were admitted for methamphetamine use. Furthermore, 75.2% (n = 51,457) of all drug-related arrests in 2006 were methamphetamine related [2]. A household survey conducted in 2003 suggested that 0.2% of the 45 million Thai people aged 12 to 65 years had used methamphetamine during the previous year (2002), and 2.4% had used it in their lifetimes [3]. There is increasing concern that methamphetamine use is now prevalent among young people (aged 15–21 years) in Thailand. A urine test conducted among vocational school students in this age group (n = 1725) determined that 10.3% of this study group tested positive for current methamphetamine use. Additionally, 29.0% of the study group re