The number of known drug addicts in Vietnam has almost...

The number of known drug addicts in Vietnam has almost doubled to 131,733 over the past five years despite a government crackdown, state-controlled media reported.
The number of addicts has risen by an average of 10 percent to 15 percent each year since 1997, when it stood at 69,780, the Lao Dong (Labour) newspaper quoted a Ministry of Public Security report as saying.
Drug abuse has spread to students and to the countryside, the report said.
Use of illegal drugs, mostly heroin, has increased in Vietnam despite tough punishments, including the death penalty. In 2001, 55 people were sentenced to death for drug-related offences.
Authorities arrested 11,945 people on drug charges in the first six months of this year, 2 percent more than in the same period last year, according to government figures.
Hundreds of inmates have escaped from harsh drug rehabilitation centres since the government announced earlier in 2002 that all known drug addicts must be treated for at least a year, up from the previous three months.