Drug Education: Be Part of The Answer

Crimes and drugs are always present in the news every single day of watching television or listening to
radio therefore educating people, more specifically students or youth, who are subject to temptation for
illegal drugs, is needed. As the part of addressing this problem, the Bataan Peninsula State University
National Service Training Program conducts a webinar about Drug Education.

The program started with a prayer and was followed by the national anthem. After that, the NSTP
Coordinator, Balanga Campus, Mr. Jethro Jake C. Sampang, MAed gave a welcome message to everyone.
He hopes that through this webinar, the NSTP trainees will be enlightened about the illegal drugs
because he knows that illegal drugs are one of the biggest problems of society. He also emphasized that
one of the causes why many lives and families were destroyed because of this is miseducation on illegal
drugs, therefore he pleased everyone to listen carefully on the webinar and of course to the resource
speaker.

This webinar was attended by all of the students of Bataan Peninsula State University. The university
assured that every student will participate and listen to this webinar by monitoring their attendance.
The youth’s participation in the anti-drug campaign is essential because they play a critical role in
preventing the spread of illegal drugs in our country.

After the welcome message of Mr. Sampang, it was followed by Sir Raymond Huevos to introduce the
speaker for that day of webinar. The resource speaker is none other than PSSG, Jasper F. Rosero the
Founder of Substance Abuse Vivid-prevention Education or also known as S.A.V.E. Our resource
speakers used Audio-Visual Presentations to show the harmful effects of drug abuse. They also
emphasized the social, emotional and physical dangers of abuse of illegal drugs. More importantly the
legal responsibility and liability of users and pushers were discussed.

As an introduction, Mr. Rosero introduced himself, the organization he belongs to and what is S.A.V.E all
about. According to him, youth used drugs or abused drugs because of inaccurate information about
drug effects, curiosity, stress, poor self-image, anger, fit in, and rejection. When I come to think about
these reasons, I realized that they are actually the common struggles of youths nowadays therefore I
understand why these people start using drugs and why youths are involved with it.

The speaker also enumerated the three types of drugs, namely: the medication drugs, the alcohol and
cigarette, and the shabu, marijuana, and inhalants. Base on him in 1972, there were only a few who are
using illegal drugs, only marijuana, specifically in Manila. As a result, RA 6465 was implemented to
regulate law against illegal drugs. But unfortunately, as years passed, the number of drug crimes
increased, so they improved it with RA 9165. The speaker also showed some pictures of the effect of
illegal drugs in the human body, more specifically to the brain. With his speech, he informed his
audience about illegal drugs and persuaded them not to use it.

After the resource speaker elaborated some of the reasons why youth are involved in drugs, it was
followed by the discussion of what might be the consequences of being addicted to illegal drugs.
According to him, 75 percent of heinous crimes are drug related, and that explains why both drug abuse
and crimes are increasing rapidly. People on drugs lose their sanity that enable them to do unexpected
and inhuman things that lead to ruin their lives, their family and whole being.

From what I’ve learned in this webinar, there are short-term effects from the use of illicit drugs and
other substances. This would harm you in terms of medical, this gave you a hangover, feeling sick,
vomiting, stomach pains, other accident injuries, drowning and accidental overdose. Your social life
might be affected as well for this could trigger you to have arguments every time that might results to
fighting: physically and or mentally, if you’re a parent and using drugs, that might be a reason for you to
neglect your child and be the one who exert violence at home such as sexual abuse and or child abuse.
This might lead you to legal consequences as well that will surely lead you to imprisonment. Since
medical, social and legal are affected, this could also affect the economy for it will lead to loss of income
and unexpected expenses.

After learning all of the consequences of using illegal drugs, I promised to myself to never ever try or at
least think about how it tastes or feels. I also realized that if everyone have an awareness about the
consequences and effects of these illegal drugs not just on their lives but also the lives of others, they
might have also promised to themselves to never use it. I know that no one really wanted to ruin their
lives because of this tiny but deadly substance and for me those addicted out there were also just a
victim. It’s really sad to hear the stories of these people whom have ruined their lives because of illegal
drugs.

The resource speaker shared the 10 commandments for a drug free Philippines. The commandments
according to their chronological order are put god in the family; set a good example to others; forbid to
become a co-drug dependent; obey authorities; resist negative peer pressure; love yourself; listen to
children and youth; be part of the answer; be drug free; let us make the Filipino great and respected in
the heart of the world but more so in the heart of our creator. This serves as an encouragement and
challenge to be a part of this war on drugs where lives of people are affected.

For children and teenagers, proper substance abuse education is a critical prevention measure. When
adults communicate accurate information about substance abuse with children, it helps them acquire a
better understanding of the problem. Without sufficient education about the dangerous effects of drugs,
children are more likely to become inquisitive about drugs, succumb to peer pressure, and take drugs on
their own.
After the informative discussion of the resource speaker, it was followed by an open forum wherein
students are allowed to ask their questions regarding the discussion that will be answered by the
resource speakers. After the open forum, Mr. Huevos takes in and ends the open forum. He also left a
message for everyone from his learning, he emphasized that “it is really really important to be with
people with ears to listen, not just an arm pushing you on the cliff “.

Lastly, the NSTP Trainer, Balanga Campus, Mr. Reynaldo G. Barata gave us a closing message by
expressing his appreciation to everyone for this webinar is very useful and really benefited everyone. He
also leaves a statement saying that “drugs will take you to hell disguised as heaven”. The program ended
at 11 o’clock in the morning. The webinar has been informative that it left new learning to the students.