Monday, January 11, 2010
Drugs in Cambodia vs. China
Many similarities are evident between the drug problems in both Cambodia and China. As the drugs become more popular, more and more people fall prey to their addictive qualities. In both cases, the drugs affect the social aspects of the country. For example, people who are addicted to meth, ecstacy, or opium will do anything to get their hands on the drug, which often changes the morales of a country. Hard working middle class people might become more centered on obtaining more drugs than providing for their families, which also affects the economy. In the videos on Cambodia they also mentioned a Drug War, so both countries experienced the trauma of having their countries torn apart by illegal drugs. Both countries also ended up cracking down on illegal drug use and doing everything they could to stop it. However, in Cambodia the population doesn't seem to be harboring as much resentment towards the government's drug trafficking as the Chinese did.
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It is important to note here both severe drug problems in Cambodia and to acknowledge them as different things. The meth and ecstasy problems were not simultaneous, and they had different effects on Cambodia. Ecstasy's harm was on the economy of Cambodia, because of the money people made by making ecstasy out of Cambodia's oil. Meth is a problem more because of how extremely addictive it is. As soon as it started to be a problem it spread so fast that the country in a sense shut down in some parts.
ReplyDeleteI agree how drugs affect the social and economical aspect of the country. I like how you tied every point you had to China and only kept to the key points. The only thing is that ecstasy was more of a problem with the environment, and the meth was more of an issue with the people taking the drug itself, just like what Kevin said. Also, I would like to see some examples or an elaboration of how Cambodia's population didn't have as much resentment towards the drug trafficking compared to the Chinese.
ReplyDeleteIt is so true that drug-use is affected to the morale of a country. Drugs affect the mental state of people. Though when on the drug they are likely very happy, off it they are stuck on, as you said, getting their hands on some more. This promotes a nation-wide sense of apathy that prevents progress. As you stated, family-life would likely begin to fall apart. As Catherine said in another post, this is a key difference between the two situations. In China, there was no distinction in age as to who was affected by the drug - no specification was made, implying that a variety of age-ranges felt it. IN Cambodia, mostly the youth are addicts, meaning that NOW, family life is less affected than it was in China or will be in Cambodia's future.
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