War on drugs hitting poor women hard: study

The Thai government's notion of a war on drugs has done little to solve the actual problem and has led instead to a larger number of women being jailed for small-time trafficking and consumption, a researcher who just completed a study on women inmates said.

"The crime itself may actually be on the rise and has become more widespread. We need to ask ourselves if we're on the right path," Napaporn Havanond, who led a team of five to conduct the study, said. She has also published a book as part of the Kamlang Jai project under the auspices of HRH Princess Bajra Kitiyabha.

About 85 per cent of female inmates are being held for drug-related offences and Thailand is said to have the world's highest number of women prisoners - almost 19,000 - after the United States.

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