PDEA: RECLASSIFY 3 CHEMICALS AS DANGEROUS

Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency chairman Anselmo S. Avenido Jr. has
recommended to the Dangerous Drugs Board that three chemicals used in the
manufacture of shabu be classified as dangerous drugs. Avenido also asked
that imports of the three chemicals -- Ephedrine and Thionyl Chloride, two
ingredients used in making shabu -- and Ketamine, a substance which is fast
gaining popularity as a drug of abuse in Asia, Europe and the United States
' be immediately seized and destroyed.

In a letter to Department of Interior and Local Government Secretary and
concurrent DDB officer-in-charge Jose D. Lina Jr., Avenido said Ephedrine
and its isomers, Pseudoephedrine and Norephedrine, should be reclassified
from the category of "controlled precursor and essential chemical" to
"dangerous drugs."

He cited Section 93, Article 11 of Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive
Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 as his basis in making the recommendation.
Alfred Dalizon