“War on Drugs” was the main focus of President Duterte’s presidential campaign.

He promised the Filipino citizens that he would end drugs within 3 to 6 months. But two
years later, he continued to promise to end the alleged drug scourge in the Philippines. I
believe it is safe to say that Duterte’s war on drugs is a massive failure and Vice
President Leni Robredo would vouch for that. The Dangerous Drugs Board admitted
that with less than two years left in office, the Duterte’s administration vision of
achieving a drug-free Philippines by 2022 is no longer a realistic goal. But that vision
should not end with Duterte, it should continue on and on until that vision would become
a reality. And this time with the right solutions.

Leni Robredo mentioned that the failure of Duterte’s war on drugs was due to law
enforcers focusing on neutralizing low-level pushers rather than cutting main sources of
supply. The funds for the said campaign were poured into neutralizing small-time
pushers and users. They forgot to look into the aspect on where the bulk of drugs that
victimize the youth and our citizens are coming from. The next president should be wise
enough to solve the said problem by starting with the things the Duterte administration
missed. The next president could change the access and accountability of those who
use and sell legal and illegal drugs which would hold prescribed users more responsible
with its use and distribution, convict anyone who use drugs and create a safer and more
healthy Philippines.

According to theconversation.com, in 2005, the drugs board reported five million

regular users of methamphetamine alone – amounting to a prevalence of 6% of the
country. With the pandemic that is happening in the world right now, a lot of people lost
their jobs or are either working parttime only which means that some people have no
enough money for daily needs. And with the mentality of majority of the Filipinos,
wherein they want immediate solutions to their problems, would resort to selling
something for “easy money”: drugs. Although drugs are important tools for fighting
diseases, it is clearly understood that we are to use it responsibly. There are multiple
reasons for this caution to take drugs in moderation and with little time to take about all
of them, I would like to discuss with you the number one disadvantage of using drugs.
Think about it; even the most delicious tiramisu has its fair share of side effects.

Drugs create a certain level of dependency. If a person just started using drugs,
he is likely to come back to it despite its known negative effects. That kind of
dependency would lead to a vicious cycle of drug use that may become unregulated
over time. Always remember that all drugs have side effects and that regular usage can
lead to dependency. Many people get hooked with the drug from when they get sick and
need to take it or when they had pain killers and they realized it helped a lot and they
started to take them on a regular basis. If the overdose does not lead to death, it will
lead to long-term consequences like permanent brain damage. Drugs could kill you, hurt
you and will change your entire life. Consuming drugs is not a joke, so it needs to be
taken more seriously. Drugs have many disadvantages and we should all be wary with
every use. With that said, the war on drugs campaign should not end during the Duterte
era, it should continue until Duterte’s vision of a drug-free Philippines would be a reality.
The next president of the Philippines should be aware of how big a problem drugs is to
our country so he or she could come up with the best solution to the problem.