Pubdate: Fri, 23 Sep 2005
Source: Manila Times (Philippines)
Copyright: 2005, The Manila Times
Contact:  http://www.manilatimes.net/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/921
Author: Jeannette I. Andrade
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?158 (Club Drugs)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/areas/Philippines

'DATE-RAPE' DRUG BOOSTS POLICE DRIVE

THE Antiillegal Drugs Special Operations Task Force considers the
classification of ketamine by the Dangerous Drugs Board as a dangerous
drug, a big boost to its campaign against narcotics.

Task force Commander Director Marcelo Ele said that persons arrested
for ketamine possession are liable only for violation of Republic Act
3720, the illegal use and manufacture of controlled chemicals, which
imposes light penalty.

Ele pointed out that a drug offender arrested for possession or
manufacturing of ketamine could easily post bail and continue with his
illicit trade.

Also known as the date-rape drug, or "Special K," ketamine comes in a
clear liquid and a white or off-white powder form. It is considered a
veterinary tranquilizer.

Ketamine can be injected, consumed in drinks, or added to smokable
materials. High doses of the drug produce an effect similar to a
"near-comatose" or "out-of-body" experience.

The drugs board has upgraded ketamine from a "controlled" substance to
a "dangerous" drug following reports that it has become a drug of
choice among drug abusers.

Under the new classification, the importation, distribution, sale and
prescription of ketamine would be rigorously restricted. Only licensed
medical practitioners may prescribe the drug in monitored and
controlled doses.

Based on the board resolution, "Any material, compound, mixture or
preparation which contains any quantity of ketamine, including its
salts, isomers and salts of isomers within the specific chemical
designation, by whatever official, common or unusual brand name or
designation, is hereby classified as a dangerous drug."

The resolution followed a recent discovery that clandestine shabu
laboratories have been concocting a mixture of ketamine and shabu to
produce a combination of a hallucinogenic sedative and a stimulant.

Last year the police seized seven tons of ketamine worth P37 million
from a shabu laboratory in Quezon City. A similar raid in Paco,
Manila, yielded a mini-ketamine laboratory, where some 16 kilos of the
illegal drug worth $1.6 million were seized.

Instead of being charged with violation of the Dangerous Drugs Act of
2002, which classifies illegal drug possession as a heinous crime, the
lawbreakers got off with a bailable offense. 
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