New drug craze hits Thai high schools
Cheap & dangerous, known as "blue drank" in US hip-hop culture or as "ya pro" among some Thai high school students who have discovered how easy it is to make from cough syrup & soft drinks.
Cheap & dangerous, known as "blue drank" in US hip-hop culture or as "ya pro" among some Thai high school students who have discovered how easy it is to make from cough syrup & soft drinks.
The so-called "purple drank" drink, part of hip-hop culture in the US, is the harmful narcotic-like cocktail now popular among Thai high-school students.
DRUGS
New drug craze hits Thai high schools
2/07/2015
Authorities have been alerted to a new, harmful narcotic-like cocktail taken among high-school students who can easily buy the ingredients and search for its formula on the internet.
The drug is called ya pro (from the drug "procodyl" used to make it), and it is a mix of soft drinks, cough syrup, muscle relaxants and cold medicines. The last three ingredients can be bought over the counter at chemists.
A high dose of these four drugs will affect the brain, giving an effect similar to taking narcotics.
"What is seriously worrying is students can easily search for the mix from Google," said Thi Bhawangkanantha, head of the Child Protection Centre at the Office of the Basic Education Commission (OBEC), adding some drug stores are selling the mix.
Mr Thi said his office will tell drugstore operators to be more careful when selling the ingredients and step up truancy patrols.
BLUE DRANK: US HIP-HOP CULTURE IMPORT
Thai students anti-drug and anti-cigarette protest, pinned under a giant cigarette that represents metaphorically the dangers of addiction.
The drug has its origins in the US where the drink is made from high doses of codeine and promethazine cough syrup mixed with sprite and other soft drinks, sometimes with hard candy added to sweeten the drink.
The resulting thick and purple liquid is then served in a white styrofoam cup with some ice.
The drug-like drink has been glamourised by American hip-hop culture with some famous rappers and even American professional football players hospitalised for addiction to the drink (See here).
In Thailand, the cough syrup Procodyl, which contains promethazine, is widely available, but in the US, promethazine is now a strictly regulated drug.
POSSIBLE NEGATIVE EFFECTS
The negative effects of drinking Purple Drank are said to include:
1. Constricted pupils with lowered response to light.
2. Rough and raspy voice with slow and slurred speech
3. Breathing can stop when codeine, a respiratory depressant, is taken in large amounts.
4. Droopy eyes and uncontrolled eye movement.
5. Slowed heartbeat.
6. Drowsiness with loss of balance and coordination.
7. Constipation.
8. Heightened risk of urinary tract infection and dental problems.
http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/general/610992/new-drug-craze-hits-high-schools
http://bangkok.coconuts.co/2015/07/02/thai-teens-go-crazy-purple-drank
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purple_drank
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=purple+drank
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