Drug cartels on the Thai-Burma border are today piggybacking their existing international heroin dealing with "yaa baa" a cheap and pure amphetamine. Yaa baa, or "the crazy drug" as Thais have come to know it, is a chemical mimic of adrenaline. Users describe feeling intense euphoria, strength and energy. But for most the party soon turns into a nightmare. "From heavy and prolonged use they have all the symptoms of chronic paranoid schizophrenia...a state that is as dangerous as a person can be." Throughout Thailand there's an epidemic of drug induced violence. A crowd gathers as an addict holds a five-year-old hostage. Desperate to avoid a repeat of a similar incident where a child was hacked to death by a delusional user, the police shoot the man dead. The most Thai police can do to is arrest small time users and pushers. Getting to the real drug lords over the border demands political leverage. Many see Burma's government as tolerant even supportive of the cartels. And with their trading continuing apace the world it seems should be worried about the crazy drug.

Produced by ABC Australia