Pubdate: Sat, 30 Jul 2016
Source: Sunstar Davao (Philippines)
Column: The Point Being
Copyright: 2016 Sunstar
Contact:  http://www.sunstar.com.ph/davao/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1991
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Author: Mags Z. Maglana

ON DRUG ADDICTION AND THE SONA 2016 (PART 1)

IN his first State of the Nation Address (Sona) among the memorable 
lines that President Rodrigo Roa Duterte said were: "human rights 
must work to uplift human dignity. But human rights cannot be used as 
a shield or an excuse to destroy the country  your country and my 
country"  these, and the many statements that referred to illegal drugs.

Michael Moore, the American documentary filmmaker and author known 
for his critique of the current state of American politics, economics 
and culture, featured dealing with drug addiction in his production 
"Where to Invade Next", a documentary premised on the idea of 
identifying and "stealing great ideas" of other countries that could 
be brought back to the United States--hence the notion of invasion, 
but minus the violence that it usually entails.

The segment on Portugal focused on its unorthodox approach to a 
massive problem with illegal drugs. Moore interviewed Portuguese 
policemen, one of whom had this to say about fighting drugs: "human 
dignity is the backbone of our society. And all laws have to be based 
on respecting and following that principle. And those principles are 
instilled in us, even in our training as policemen." Channel One News 
reported in a feature that in the 1980s, one in every one hundred 
Portuguese was a heroin user and it was not uncommon for heroin users 
to die in the streets. Then in 2001 after ferociously waging a war on 
drugs for two decades the country decriminalized personal possession 
and use in small amounts--it did not legalize drugs but it shifted 
the mindset about drug use as a health problem rather than a criminal problem.

Those caught possessing in excess of the set amounts (under three 
grams for marijuana, below a gram for heroin, and less than two grams 
for cocaine), according to Lisbon Police Commissioner Nelson Ribeiro 
in the Channel One News feature, were fined and sent to 
rehabilitation. The Portuguese government continued to go after drug 
suppliers but only 10% of its resources went to law enforcement, 
while 90% was for treatment and rehabilitation.

The news segment claimed that over time drug-caused deaths went down 
by 80%, the number of heroin addicts was reduced by 50%, and very few 
went to prison because of drug abuse.

The statements of the Portuguese police in the Moore documentary 
resonated with me, in part because it connected with the statement of 
Pres. Duterte on human dignity.

But more importantly because it indicated other less violent and more 
effective approaches to drug abuse, and one which in particular was 
underpinned by a concern for human dignity, which one is hard pressed 
to find in the increasing number people killed in cold blood due to drugs.

Using police data journalists Vino Lucero and Malou Mangahas 
estimated that the number of people killed thus far averaged 10 
persons a day in the first three weeks of the new administration 
compared to an average of about one person killed every 10 days 
during the 78-month period of January 2010 to June 2016.

What has turned out to be a bloody war on drugs in the early days of 
the Duterte administration has elicited divided reactions from key 
sectors of society.

Personages associated with the Catholic Church and other civil 
society leaders have spoken up against what has become a daily body 
count. But social media discourse continues to be dominated by 
outright and tacit endorsements, and compounded by deliberate silence 
about the issue, perhaps mirroring what Fr. Amado Picardal, CSsR 
described as the absence of a "moral outcry".

It has come to a point where the divisions seem to have boiled down 
to a simplistic one: being critical of drug-related killings means 
one tolerates criminality and is out of touch of the problems of the 
country, and emanates from being anti-Duterte. A corollary to the 
above conclusion is the charge that all who are supportive of 
addressing criminality and the Duterte administration are also 
accommodating towards extra-judicial killings. These views, which 
have only stoked the divisions spawned by the May 2016 elections 
campaign, are by no means representative of those who struggle to 
meaningfully respond to the challenges of the times.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom