The Filipino government should take a medical approach to the drug problem in their country, rather than continue with the drug killings.
Could a medical approach work in the Philippines? What other approaches could the government take?
What evidence is there that the medical approach is the best way to put an end to illegal drug activities?
Are the drug killings solving the problem of drug activity in the Philippines? Is criminalisation solving the problem?
A medical approach to drug problems involves
The article 'Treatment Approaches for Drug Addiction Drug Facts' told us different kinds of medications for treating drug addiction, these are 'managing withdrawal symptoms' and 'Relapse Prevention' (NIDA, 2019).
'Impatient' or 'Residential Treatment' is another form of a
medical approach to drug problems. It consists of: Therapeutic communities, shorter-term residential treatment
and Recovery housing (NIDA, 2019).
A criminalisation approach to drug problems involves
It also involves rehabilitation programmes for the people who surrendered from using drugs. Looking from the Dangerous Drugs Board website, it states that, "During September 2019, out of the 1,634 cities and municipalities in the country, 992 Local Government Units were able to implement community-based rehabilitation programmes benefitting 178,353 individuals." (DDB, 2019), this means that providing rehabilitation programmes could possibly work in the Philippines to minimise the drug problem in the Philippines.
The killings of people who are using/dealing illegal drugs, an anti-illegal drug strategy announced by President Rodrigo Duterte in 2016.
Was your hypothesis correct? Should the Filipino government stop the drug killings and go for a medical approach? What recommendations would you give them? What are the conclusions you have come to about this topic?
The Filipino government will need to invest a lot of money into anti-drug organisations. Also, the government needs to provide more security to stop drug dealing, as a lot of this happens in the squatters areas.
What are the drug killings? Statistics about them etc
Human Rights Watch (2021) The drug killings have increased during the lockdowns, leading to the arrests and incarceration of tens of thousands of Filipinos in conditions that greatly increase their health risks. THERE ARE STILL A LOT OF PEOPLE OUT THERE WHO ARE GETTING INVOLVED IN DRUG DEALING. THE DRUG KILLINGS DON'T SEEM TO BE STOPPING THEM.
An evidence based on what I have found in the National Institute on Drug Abuse is that, it told us about different kinds of medications and devices for treating drug addiction, these are, 'Managing Withdrawal Symptoms' and 'Relapse Prevention'. (NIDA, 2019)
Rehabilitation programme in the Philippines incorporates evidence-based treatments which includes principles on, the Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Motivational Interviewing, Mindfulness, and Family Systems Therapy (DDB, 2020)
Another option that the government could take use is the decriminalisation of drugs. From the article, 'Decriminalization or Death: Portugal's Drug Policy vs. Philippines', it was mentioned that in Portugal, in 2015, "they had the lowest drug-induced death rate in western Europe: 10 times lower than the UK and 50 times lower than US. The number of active heroin addicts has dropped from 100,000 In 2001, to fewer than 25,0000 today." (VICE, n.d.), decriminalisation is really working well for the Portugal.
According from the, 'Community-Based Treatment and Rehabilitation Resources', the Philippine government organized Rehabilitation and Community-Based treatment. These programmes consists of many components, one of them is, "To help restore the family through forgiveness and family-relationship strengthening messages to make them realise that drugs are just by-product of a dysfunctional family", and, "To help the person realise the need for God, that we cannot change on our own and that Christ is the one who transforms." (DDB, 2020).
In the article, ' Philippines: 'Drug War' killings Rise during Pandemic', states that there was "more than 50% increase in the drug killings during the 2020 pandemic, and nearly 8000 alleged drug suspects had been killed during the police operations" (Human Rights Watch, 2021). This shows no improvement as high numbers of drug killings risen during the pandemic.
It was mentioned in the 'Decriminalization or Death: Portugal's Drug Policy vs. Philippines' video' article that, Caramat, the head of drug enforcement for the National Police Force, admitted that the drug killings were failing and the drug supply was still "uncontrolled". Street cost for the illegal drugs became lower than when the war on drugs started in 2016 (VICE, n.d.), therefore, this became cheap for the drug users to buy, and I believe it is another problem why the drug killings are still uncontrolled.
'Outpatient behavioural Treatment' is a form of a medical approach to drug problems. It includes many programs such
as: cognitive-behavioural therapy, multidimensional family
therapy, motivational viewing, and motivational incentives. (NIDA, 2019).
From the BBC article, it was mentioned the latest statistics in June 2019, 5,526 people have been killed under the drug killings law. (Johnson H., & Giles C., 2019). However during this year, it was seen that there was a big impact from Duterte's anti-illegal drug strategy, "More than 1.4 million Filipino drug users have surrendered for rehabilitation in the Philippine government's war against illegal drugs."(Galvez D., 2019).
The Human Rights Watch website states from the 2016-2017 data, " according to the police counts in the Philippines, 7,025 people were killed by the police or unknown armed attackers in the war on drugs." (Amnesty International, 2020).
In my opinion, using decriminalisation in the Philippines might not work since there are a lot of people in the Philippines who are using and dealing illegal drugs are stubborn, they do not follow the governments instructions. A possible reason is, drug price in the Philippines became lower, therefore, it became affordable to the people. "PDEA earlier claimed that the price of shabu (meth) per gram has dropped from 6,800 peso ($192.83 NZD) to 1,400 peso ($39.70 NZD) at present."(Talabong, 2018).
My hypothesis was incorrect, because president Rodrigo Duterte has also considered medical approach as part of his anti-illegal drugs strategy for the drug users and dealers if they surrender rather than being involved with the killings.
Since president Rodrigo Duterte's anti-illegal drug strategy 'drug killings' is failing as being said by Caramat, the head of drug enforcement for the National Police Force, admitted that the drug killings were failing and the drug supply was still "uncontrolled". (VICE, n.d.), Perhaps, he could consider the decriminalisation of drugs just like Portugal's policy. Portugal decriminalizing drugs was really working, it had a huge impact to the numbers of drug addicts in their country (VICE, n.d.).
Overall, there are a lot of information learnt came about this topic. It was an interesting theme understanding different kinds of anti-illegal drug strategies, not just in the Philippines, but other countries like Portugal. The process of rehabilitation programme and what this consists of, including various treatments for illegal drugs. With this information, helped me expand and gain more knowledge regarding my hypothesis.