RP, Japan launch fight vs drugs

A Japanese non-government organization will help the Philippines become a drug-free country by 2010 through a massive information campaign.

Justice Undersecretary Jose Calida, also the executive director of the Dangerous Drugs Board, said Toshiyuki Takahashi, director general of Japan Drug and AIDS Preventive Association (JDAPA), has pledged to help the DDB and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency produce materials on the consequences of drug abuse.

JDAPA recognizes the rising number of drug abuse-related crimes affecting the youth, especially high school students, he added.

Calida said JDAPA has seen the need to educate the public about the relation between drug use and AIDS through forums and the distribution of drug and AIDS information brochures.

The DDB is coordinating with the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crimes as part of the government’s efforts to combat illegal drugs, he added.

In a report before a forum on illegal drugs in Bangkok, Thailand yesterday, Calida discussed the involvement of foreigners in the manufacture of shabu and other illegal drugs in the country.

Calida said 55 foreigners were behind the 1,377.85 kilos of shabu, and 263.34 kilos of ephedrine seized in the country in 2001.

In 2002, 809.1 kilograms of shabu, 700 grams of cocaine, 600 tablets of "Ecstasy" and other precursors and essential chemicals valued at P1.62 billion were confiscated by drug enforcement agents from 37 foreigners, who were mostly Chinese, he added.

Calida said eight transnational groups or 61.5 percent of a total of 13 have been neutralized, along with two other groups that have been identified and stopped early this year.

In 1999, there were some 1.8 million regular drug users and 16 million occasional drug users in the country, DDB figures have shown. <