DDB chief bats for stronger support for drug users: Anger not a solution

TRECE MARTIRES CITY, Cavite — Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB) Chairperson Oscar Valenzuela on Tuesday said the government must provide stronger support mechanisms for people who use drugs.

In a press briefing ahead of a ceremony in this city to burn P4.56-billion worth of confiscated illegal drugs, Valuenzuela said authorities’ efforts to reduce the supply of prohibited substances must also be met with intensified efforts to reduce the demand for them.

“We must invest and exert efforts in prevention. We must invest in education. We must invest in rehabilitation and reintegration. We must show our people… that their future is not defined by wrong choices but by opportunities we’re willing to create and build with them,” he added.

READ: Gov’t urged to reform drug policy; focus on prevention, harm reduction

The DDB chief also said drug use was not merely a matter of choice.

“This is often the result of a deeper problem like poverty, lack of support, influence of environments and, at times, trauma. Discrimination, judgment, and anger are not solutions. Instead, let us be prepared to support them,” he explained in Filipino.

Valenzuela noted that the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, which prescribes which drugs are prohibited and the penalties for possessing, selling, and distributing them, is currently under review by a technical working group in the House of Representatives.

Although he said he agreed the law must be revisited, the DDB chief noted that the law already had provisions for drug-free workplace programs and school-based prevention programs.

“All that is needed is to strengthen the law,” he added.

Several public health, drug law, and civil society advocates previously called on the government in a roundtable with reporters last October to reform the country’s drug policy, urging authorities to instead focus on the issue’s public health aspect through prevention and harm reduction. /mcm