September 25, 2001   *   vol. 1 (13)

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vol. 1 (13)   *   September 25, 2001

     The drug commerce in the Philippines has so flourished that it can now be said that it's cheaper and easier for gang mates to get high for a night, than to get drunk on gin. Why so? Our country has become a major transshipment point of drugs destined for many countries. We are also already manufacturing shabu, as the Chinese Triad relocate in the Philippines. The very officers and law enforcers who should ferret out those involved in the illegal drug trade are themselves implicated in the drug trade. What's worse is that those caught up had already bribed their way into our courts, the immigration office, Customs, the police, and travel agencies.
     There are now an estimated 1.8 million drug dependents in the country, way above the projected 20,000 drug users in 1972. One out of every 45 Filipinos is a shabu user. In a reunion of a typical extended Filipino family, there's bound to be one uncle or brother or son who's hooked to shabu. There are 3.5 million other infrequent users of the methamphetamine hydrochloride or shabu, the poor man's cocaine that was first concocted in Japan more than four decades ago. Most of them come from the poor, the unemployed, and the hopeless.
     The big drug money that the drug business can generate can corrupt almost anyone. However, the bigger source of concern is the damaging influence of drugs on users, especially the youth. Families have been torn apart and the future of adolescents have been destroyed by drugs. Almost everyday we read or hear felons who were high on drugs have committed crimes including rape and murder. There are law enforcers directly involved in the manufacture of shabu. Others protect drug dealers. Still others refuse to look on this matter especially if they are in the payroll, or at least regularly wined and dined by suspected drug traffickers who

have managed to launder money into legitimate businesses. How do you wipe this problem out?
     Apparently, our country already has some of the toughest laws against drug trafficking but seem to have failed. Lawmakers, thus, must start crafting legislation to improve the fight against the drug menace. Law enforcement agencies must exert more effort to flush those involved in the illegal drug trade, especially those within their own organizations. Citizens must also do their part. We must pin point not only dealers in our neighborhoods but also find ways of discouraging drug abuse. Concerned groups, too, must develop community-based programs to address this scourge.
     Drugs eat into the very heart and soul of our society, corrupting and poisoning our youth, our institutions, disrupting our economy, and mortgaging our future. This drug nuisance is becoming the biggest moral issue to have ever hit our country in years.