Abstract:
This research was the study on the prevention and solution of drug problems within public participation in Pu Yen YaKhum Yang Yoo community. The objectives of this research were: 1) to study the process of drug prevention and solution focusing on the participation of people in the community; 2) to study the solution obstacles of drug prevention and solution in the community; and 3) to study the improvement of drug prevention and solution process in the community to be more effective. This research was qualitative research using unstructured interviews and open-ended questions as the data collection tools. The related informants were 4 main groups of representatives from the public sector, working on drug prevention and solutions in Pu Yen YaKhum Yang Yoo community. These community committees included, Kongtunmae Kong Pandin committee, drug surveillance volunteers and TO BE NUMBER ONE committee for a total of 11 people. The mentioned committee directly worked on drug prevention and solutions in Pu Yen YaKhum Yang Yoo community; therefore, they were the key informants of the research.
The results found that drug prevention and solutions focused on participation in Pu Yen YaKhum Yang Yoo community and was done continuously with these important principles: 1) the established groups were community committee members, Kongtunmae Kong Pandin, drug surveillance volunteers and TO BE NUMBER ONE group worked closely, were coordinated and strong; 2) the mentioned groups had consistent activities focused on people participating in activities, procedures and supporting ; 3) the activities were various covering all ages; 4) the relating governmental sector also supported efforts, such as district offices, public health center 40 (Bang Khae), police officers etc.
The obstacles of drug prevention and solution procedures were: 1) there was little participation from people from the distancing culture of civil society due to the ignorance of drug problems or the need to stay away from drug problems etc; 2) inadequate budget. The improvement of drug prevention and solution process from the study on the informants were: 1) promote and educate people in the community on the importance of drug problems and create awareness that drug are a mutual problem that everyone needed to help prevent and solve the problem; 2) provide adequate budget; 3) encourage parents to supervise children to stay away from drugs, which was the first important factor; 4) create a healthy mindset for youths to prevent interest in drugs; 5) establish a network with governmental and private sectors for the participation of prevention and solutions drug problems.
The results from the unstructured interviews found that the procedures of drug prevention and solution process in Pu Yen YaKhum Yang Yoo community was continuous. The working groups showed strength with close coordination but the problems were low participation from people in the community, as well as inadequate budget to create success. The drug problems faded and disappeared but came back again and continued as a circle. In conclusion, drug prevention and solution process in Pu Yen YaKhum Yang Yoo community was successful but not sustainable.
It is suggested to further research on the awareness procedures for youths to stay away from drugs because if they have resilience, the chance of new addictions would be reduced.
Keywords: Drug prevention, Drug problem, Pu Yen YaKhum Yang Yoo community.