A STUDY ON POVERTY AND DRUG ADDICTION IN THE PHILIPPINES: “OPLAN TOKHANG”, AN ANTI-POOR AND

INEFFECTIVE ANSWER TO THE DRUG PROBLEM

2012-01180 MAGTIRA, Paolo L.

Conclusion
The question remains whether or not Oplan Tokhang can be considered an effective answer to the drug problem in the Philippines;
this policy by the Duterte administration put to death thousands of people due to alleged addiction and alleged affiliations to the illicit
drug trade. It has already been proven that incarceration for drug offenses are catalysts for the destruction of an afflicted individual’s
lifestyle and overall path in life; if prison sentences for non-violent drug offenders are proven to be unacceptable solutions,

what more could we take from actually resorting to murdering addicts as part of a social cleansing?

Oplan Tokhang does not take into consideration the factors that can make a person more susceptible to addiction and treats the brain
sickness as some sort of a sin, a criminal offense deserving of violent death; it does not acknowledge the influence of widespread
poverty in the Philippines as a cause for addiction. The government should first take the necessary steps to address the issues rooted
with the system that further worsens the situation of income inequality in the country; the advent of national industrialization and
genuine agrarian reform must take priority to lift the economical disparage. Addressing the problems with poverty is an effective
prevention method to alleviate the drug problem; the government should be championing economical reforms that benefit the
majority, not enact polices that further widen the gap between the rich and the poor.

As a final assessment, Oplan Tokhang as a measure to counter the growing drug problem in the Philippines is a complete and utter
failure. This grave mistake stemmed from the lack of understanding of the drug problem’s complexity and the narrow-minded
perception of the government to the variables that are involved with drug addiction. It is a completely haphazard method that led to the
deaths of thousands of predominantly poor citizens without showing actual results in alleviating the dilemma. It has already been
proven that the “War on Drugs” model patented by Richard Nixon of the United States in 1971 does not work and will never work; it
is an impossibility to win a war on eradicating drug supply as illicit drugs will always be manufactured at a higher quality and faster
rate. Duterte’s version of this drug war is not only less effective but more prone to human rights violations and generally spreading
human misery all over the country.

Drug addicts should never be treated as criminals unless they participate in violent acts; these individuals should instead be perceived
as patients in need of proper medical treatment; effective rehabilitation methods always be put in the forefront of any policy that
concerns the problem with illicit drugs. Addiction is a brain illness that arises from genetic and environmental factors and should be
treated as such; capital punishment should never be an option to address this dilemma, even more so the type of death that is
administered through illegal means.

Effectiveness of the Anti-illegal drugs program of local in Barangay Central Signal Village Taguig

Ronald Rhei C. Bercasio : Gilbert J. Piedad : Celeste B. Basco-

CONCLUSION As the fight against the Dangerous Drug continues, the battle field gets bigger and bigger as time and days goes by.
More and more people are at risk and getting victimized to be succumbed by its wrath so we must be able to formulate or update new
ways, plans, strategies in order to won the battle

The War on Drugs: A War on Drug Users? Julian Buchanan & Lee Young-2000

ABSTRACT

The authors argue that since the 1980s UK drug policy has largely been ill considered, reactive and counter-productive. Rather than
reducing drug taking and drug- related crime, such policies have exacerbated the problem and contributed towards an environment in
which drug use and illegal drug activities are likely to flourish. One of the consequences of this `war on drugs’ is that it manifests
itself as a `war on drug users’ with an emphasis not upon the development of appropriate rehabilitative models, but upon prevention,
prohibition and punishment. Drawing on the authors’ qualitative research on Merseyside, England involving 200 problem drug users,
it will be argued that the war on drug users has subjected these people to a process of stigmatisation, marginalisation and social
exclusion, and prevented many of them from recovery by hindering their reintegration into the wider social and economic community.
Instead, growing numbers of problematic drug users remain locked into a cycle of chronic drug relapse.
OPLAN CYBER TOKHANG: Pagsusuri sa Kasalukuyang Papel ng
Social Media sa “War on Drugs” ng Rehimeng Duterte.
Gerome Nicolas Dela Peña-
Ang ‘Giyera Kontra Droga’ o war on drugs ng rehimeng Duterte sa mukha ng Oplan
Tokhang ay isang armas ng gobyerno upang mapanatili nito ang sarili sa estado-poder ng
politikal at pang-ekonomiyang paghahari sa bayan. Kahit na ito’y pangunahing lumalabag sa
karapatan ng maraming mga mamamayan ay patuloy itong pananatilihin ng kasalukuyang
rehimen dahil patuloy rin itong tinatanggap ng maraming Pilipino. Ang mga katulad na
personalidad ni Mr. Riyoh at ng iba pang mga Duterte Die-hard Supporters (DDS) ang isa sa
mga nagiging aparato ng gobyerno upang mas matamasa nito ang malawak na pagtanggap ng
mamamayan sa kanyang mga hindi maka-taong polisiya’t programa, na ang totoo’y sila lamang
ang tunay na nakikinabang at nagbebenepisyo.

WAR ON DRUGS IN THE PHILIPPINES (The Greatest Happiness Principle of Jeremy Bentham)
Today, there are already various anti-drug laws, agencies and campaigns created by the national and local
government to address drug abuse but fighting against the cause is difficult because illicit drugs is not only a
mental-disease but now classified as related to commission of a crime. Research carried out on drug-related
crime found that drug misuse is associated with various crimes that are in part related to the feelings of
invincibility, which can become particularly pronounced with abuse. Problematic crimes associated include
shoplifting, property crime, drug dealing, violence and aggression and driving whilst intoxicated. A study made
by Dr. Lance L. Simpson from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, he said more than 200
acts of felony in Manhattan over the last two years says he has proved an assumption he set out to test: that
people who commit crimes while under the influence of drugs behave differently from those who commit the
same crime while not under the influence of drugs.