Primary school students poisoned with addictive drug

VietNamNet Bridge – The Que Vo district in the northern province of Bac Ninh has been “shaken” for the last two weeks with the information that a lot of students were found poisoned with drugs used via drinking or direct inhaling.

The Pho Moi primary school

Students admitted using addictive drug, parents get frightened

In the last two weeks, a lot of students have been staying off from school, because their parents fear that their children may be forced to use drugs. A lot of parents have been trying to talk with children to find out who gave them the “white powder.” Others bring their children to healthcare centers to have urine tests. Even the children, who said they did not use the drugs, were also asked by the parents to go to have the tests. A fearful atmosphere has been pervading the town.

Nguyen Van H, a local resident, said that his youngest son – Nguyen Van D – a 8th grader of the Pho Moi Secondary School, was one of the 17 students who have been found as using the white drug.

“I reported my son’s case to the head of the hamlet and then brought the son to the police. When meeting the hamlet’s head, my son said he “inhaled the drug three times.” This was the drug given by a classmate,” H said, adding that he feels very bad now and has lost two kilos in weight.

Nguyen Van L, a primary school student, has also been found as getting involved in the case. Lai Thi A, the mother of L, gave answers to all the questions posed to her. “I believe that the problem needs to be made public, so that other parents can protect their children and the police can arrest the people who have been trying to poison children,” A said.

Nguyen Khac Thuong, Head of the Dinh Hamlet, said that many children were caught red handed as using the drugs. Meanwhile, some parents voluntarily reported about their children’s case. “We have sent a list of the children using drugs to the town’s police,” he said.

Meanwhile, according to the Pho Moi town Police Station, 23 children (the oldest one was born in 1995, and the smallest in 1999) have reported that they once inhaled a kind powder, or drank a kind of water, suspected of containing addictive substances.

These include four students from the Que Vo 1 High School, one from the Pho Moi High School, 20 from the Pho Moi Secondary School and one from Pho Moi Primary School.

According to Hoang Cong Huan, Head of the Pho Moi town Police Station, who directly inquired the 23 students, said that four of them admitted that they bought the drugs and persuaded smaller children to use the drugs. However, it is unclear who sold the drugs and who provided money to buy drugs. 

“Only one of them admitted that he bought an ecstasy drug tablet at 200,000 dong,” he said.

Some other students said that they were invited to billiard shops or football matches, where they were offered soft drink. Especially, if they could drink much, they were even given money.

Schools try to dodge questions

While parents and students have been cooperating with the local authorities by providing necessary information, leaders of the Pho Moi Primary and Secondary Schools have been trying to evade the problem.

Nguyen Quang Hanh, Headmaster of the Pho Moi Primary School, has affirmed that the school has no student using drugs as newspapers reported recently.

Meanwhile, NVL, the youngest child, who used the drugs, a student of the school, admitted that he used the drugs twice, and did not have to pay money. The student said his teacher knew about that and told him not to repeat the thing.

Source: VTC