With President Duterte's drive for war on drugs, regular drug raids have been occuring with good results. One of this week's raid resulted to a capture of a 50 year old laundry woman found with a small amount of SHABU, can just be for her own consumption. It was just a small amout, costing to about $200, the price shooting up due to less supply. But what made her a user?
"I dont get tired ."
It's really sad for her to resort to using drugs so she can do more work. Doing somebody's laundry doesn't pay much. It's manual so it's hard work as well. It's one of the jobs for those that didn't finish school or for stay-home mothers with kids that they can bring along while doing the laundry. In the provinces where there's no washing machines available, this is the norm. A day's work can earn $2-3 per household. This lady probably can do more households in one day. Take note though, work can be irregular. Some families make ends meet doing odd jobs, and more often, work isn't always there. And with kids to feed, school tuition fees, where can they get money from?
In the Philippines, poverty has always been a critical problem. The latest data in 2014, the Philippines' poverty line was a 100, 534 pesos per capita of income in a year. That's about $2,100, which 70% goes to food expenses annually.
I agree that not a lot of drug users aren't evil. This lady could just had become a drug pusher if she wanted to have more money. Compared to some politicians who have a higher than most regular income who resorted to protecting druglords for money.
(image from wsj.net)
www.nscn.gov.ph
This is a good example of what I recently mentioned--that government is guilty of unjustified aggression against non-violent people. The laundry woman should be left alone. Instead, she is a victim of governmental aggression, and that makes government the criminal. She is not the criminal. :-(
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I agree with you but not all are like her .If they are then heinous crimes will not be as it is now.Surely you have seen the rehab centre that will be finished this November,that with a limited budget compared to none from our past presidents.
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I'll contend that many users of illegal substances are not criminals according to a fair definition of the word "criminal." We've talked about the differences between certain drug addicts in the Philippines and those in other countries, but my contention remains: many users of illegal substances are not guilty of actual crime (e.g., theft, murder, rape, etc.) They should be left alone until they are.
Anyway, I'm one such person, since I responsibly benefit from God's good gift of cannabis. Anyone who would put me in jail for it is the real criminal, and hence, both Philippine and U.S. governments are criminal organizations. The drug war does not accord with true justice, no matter what country it's in.
By the way, I've used many hard and harmful drugs in the past (e.g. cocaine, heroin, etc.), but I don't anymore. I care too much about my health and sanity. However, I do appreciate cannabis, alcohol (in moderation), and a responsible usage of certain hallucinogens, such as LSD or psilocybe mushrooms.
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President Duterte is considering marijuana to be legalised but admitted it needs more study and regulations.i dont mind so much if drug users are harmless,but in the Philippines,most heinous crimes are from those who uses them.so what better ways to solve that?Filipinos cant control themselves under it.their hallucinations make them do things.
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Supposedly, he's considering the legalization of cannabis for medical reasons, but I don't think that's good enough. Actually, the concept of legalization misses the point altogether. Why should anyone need government's permission to use cannabis in the first place? It's a plant. Is government the owner of all things? Is it our master? When it comes to the use of any substance--natural or not--people should be left alone unless they commit murder, rape, theft, assault, etc. Freedom is the issue.
I think it's insulting to many Filipinos to suggest that they can't keep themselves from committing heinous crimes of aggression while under the influence of illegal psychoactive substances. They can and they must; many of them do. When they don't, then they should be held accountable. Moreover, think about this: the same sort of argument you make above can be made against alcohol, which causes drunkards to "lose control" all the time. When someone gets drunk and psysically assaults someone else, we don't blame alcohol in general. We hold the person who committed the crime responsible. All other users of alcohol are left alone.
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u compare the effects of alcohol to those raped and murdered kids and elderly under the influence of shabu??
if there are filipinos who are good citizens even when under the influence of drugs then apologies but I havent met one.they are justified perhaps.but how would the govt stop these heinous crimes?if your wife or kids or any family member will become a victim ,will you still have the same stance to shabu?you can control yours,some cant.
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As mentioned before, plenty of people rape, murder, and steal while drunk on alcohol (without being on other drugs). We hold those people accountable for their crimes of aggression, but we don't criminalize all drinkers and we don't conduct a "war on alcohol." It should be the same with any substance.
Yes, I would have the same stance if that were to happen. Substance use/abuse/sales should not be criminalized, but acts of aggression such as murder, rape, theft, assault, etc. should be. Anyone who commits such acts should be dealt with accordingly, but people like the laundry lady who was recently victimized by government should be left alone. Government is the criminal, in her case.
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