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Shabu still in demand despite thousands of drug deaths —PDEA


Shabu remains in demand in the country despite the Duterte administration's ongoing war on drugs and the almost 5,000 drug suspects killed as of October, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency said on Tuesday.

PDEA spokesperson Derrick Carreon said the demand for illegal drugs couldn’t be addressed by law enforcement alone since drug addiction was also a health condition.

“Definitely, may supply po. The reason why may supply is we have to address the demand side. Kasi hangga’t mayroon tumatangkilik, meron paparating, either thru smuggling or may magtatayo ng shabu laboratory para mapunuan ang demand,” Carreon said.

“We have to remember that drug use is also a health condition and as such, it cannot be solved by purely law enforcement. If you are a heavy drug user, your body is so used to that condition," he added.

"Seeing people getting killed is not really a deterrent because your body is craving for substance that it has grown accustomed to; that has an addicting effect. That is why this has to be addressed by law enforcement and other efforts, such as other intervention, including rehabilitation,” Carreon said.

Carreon, nonetheless, echoed PDEA Director General Aaron Aquino’s statement last month that the price of shabu, especially in Metro Manila, had gone down significantly.

“Kami ng PNP, halos wala ng tulog ang aming mga operatiba, araw-gabi. Ang mga drug buy bust, kilo kilo ang transaksiyon, at ‘yun at dahil may parating na supply. Standard prices used to be P5,000 to P6,800 per gram. It is now down to 1,400, especially in NCR,” Carreon said.

“There should be demand and supply reduction, and demand reduction cannot be done with law enforcement. Demand reduction cannot be done with hard and fast arrest, serving arrest warrant. The [reduction of] demand [side] should be approached with a different system, not law enforcement,” he added.

PNP spokesperson Chief Superintendent Benigno Durana agreed.

“Drugs are more addictive than cigarettes. These people are motivated by list for drugs,” Durana said.

Based on government records presented by the Philippine National Police and PDEA on Tuesday, 292,108 drug users who voluntarily surrendered to authorities completed their recovery and wellness program.

This figure, however, only accounts for those who enrolled in recovery and wellness program initiated by the police and police-supported community centers.

According to PNP data as of August this year, there are 1.2 million drug users who voluntarily turned themselves to authorities since President Rodrigo Duterte became President in June 30, 2016.  —NB, GMA News

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