WAR ON DRUGS SHOULD BE FURTHER INTENSIFIED

There is no doubt that the government has raided many laboratories
producing shabu. But now the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes
(UNODC) has come out with a report that the Filipinos are still one of
the biggest shabu consumers in the world. The problem with the use of
drugs is that it is a crime that always leads to other crimes. The
person that has been hooked on drugs can no longer function normally.
He cannot hold on to his job and he needs money to sustain his vice.
So he is forced to do things - get his officemates and friends to also
get hooked on drugs or steal money to sustain his vice. Eventually the
use of drugs alienates him from his officemates, friends and family.
He ends up being an outcast of society.

The UNODC also issued a strong warning on the use of tobacco. There
are 1.3 billion tobacco smokers in the world. And the worst thing they
do is endanger the lives of non-smokers. Inhaling the smoke that
smokers exhale is even worst than inhaling smoke direct from
cigarette. There is now a worldwide trend to eliminate smoking from
the world. North Korea recently joined that association. But in the
Philippines, we still have to see a real government or private effort
to reduce the use of tobacco on a national basis. The very first major
step is to prohibit the advertisements of cigarettes and tobacco. As
it is now, all they do is add "Cigarette Smoking Is Dangerous To Your
Health." This is true. So smoking should not be allowed at all.

There have been some efforts to control smoking in public places. But
what should be outlawed is smoking itself. Without doubt, we would be
a much healthier nation if we ban smoking altogether. Three and a half
million smokers die every year. That is 9,000 persons per day. One of
today's problems is air pollution. Cigarette smoking is the voluntary
use of polluted smoke. The smokers know that it is not good for their
health. But they are willing to sacrifice their health and risk death
for their vice. This means that they value smoking even more than
their health and families.

There is no doubt the time will come when we will have a tobacco-free
world. Our job is to help bring that world to reality as soon as
possible. It is one way we can show how we care for the future not
only of our own children but the whole world. Begin with your own
family, then try to convince your officemates and friends to forsake a
vice that could prove to be their undoing. We only live once. Let's
take the best care of that only life.

Sometime ago, the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists
suggested that smoking be classified along with tuberculosis, small
pox and syphilis as one of the "notifiable diseases". We wonder what
happened to that move.