Unwinnable
Published Jun 29, 2021 12:10 am
Medium Rare
jullie
Jullie Y. Daza
All in one day, June 26, police and PDEA agents had their hands full and blotters bleeding with the ink of arrests and apprehensions of smalltime and “high-value” targets. By no means complete, media accounts mentioned the seizure of P9 million worth or 1 kg of shabu seized in Taguig; P3.4 million in a mall in Bacoor; P1.3 million in Commonwealth Ave., QC; P7,218,540 in separate raids all over the country; P240,000 from a suspected carnapper; and P10.6 million of marijuana destroyed in Benguet. Among those arrested was an SK chairman in Malita, Davao Occ.
Previously, on June 22, P258 million worth of shabu was found in a condo in Tondo and P58 million seized by the Manila police in Cavite. The list goes on and on – it’s a “high.” If we’re winning the war, we’re losing the math. If we’re losing the war, where’s the source of the lords’ wealth? More than P1 billion worth was seized in two raids in a single day on June 13, a Sunday, in Cavite and Paranaque.
Do we want to know how many of our people die from addiction and overdosing every year?
Our problem isn’t unique. Rich countries like the US and Canada report increasing numbers of opioid deaths during the pandemic. Canada (pop. 38 million) is second to the US (pop. 330 million) in per capita consumption of prohibited drugs like cocaine, heroin, fentanyl. According to one source, “six people die for every kilo of cocaine that hits the streets, even more for heroin, way more for fentanyl.” And every day some new designer drug is invented.
US fatalities from opioids (including narcotics, painkillers) totaled 72,000 in 2019; in Canada it was 3,799. Canada has the longest “undefended border in the world” that cannot be patrolled 24/7 with its miles of thick forests.
Speaking for law enforcers, the fictional Chief Inspector Gamache of the Canadian writer Louise Penny in her novel Glass Houses sums up the problem: “Nothing is stopping these drugs from hitting the streets, from killing mostly young people. Never mind all the crime that goes with drugs. . . We lost the war on drugs years ago and are just going through the motions, because we don’t know what else to do.” Fictional hero stating the cold hard facts.
Jullie Y. Daza
All in one day, June 26, police and PDEA agents had their hands full and blotters bleeding with the ink of arrests and apprehensions of smalltime and “high-value” targets. By no means complete, media accounts mentioned the seizure of P9 million worth or 1 kg of shabu seized in Taguig; P3.4 million in a mall in Bacoor; P1.3 million in Commonwealth Ave., QC; P7,218,540 in separate raids all over the country; P240,000 from a suspected carnapper; and P10.6 million of marijuana destroyed in Benguet. Among those arrested was an SK chairman in Malita, Davao Occ.
Previously, on June 22, P258 million worth of shabu was found in a condo in Tondo and P58 million seized by the Manila police in Cavite. The list goes on and on – it’s a “high.” If we’re winning the war, we’re losing the math. If we’re losing the war, where’s the source of the lords’ wealth? More than P1 billion worth was seized in two raids in a single day on June 13, a Sunday, in Cavite and Paranaque.
Do we want to know how many of our people die from addiction and overdosing every year?
Our problem isn’t unique. Rich countries like the US and Canada report increasing numbers of opioid deaths during the pandemic. Canada (pop. 38 million) is second to the US (pop. 330 million) in per capita consumption of prohibited drugs like cocaine, heroin, fentanyl. According to one source, “six people die for every kilo of cocaine that hits the streets, even more for heroin, way more for fentanyl.” And every day some new designer drug is invented.
US fatalities from opioids (including narcotics, painkillers) totaled 72,000 in 2019; in Canada it was 3,799. Canada has the longest “undefended border in the world” that cannot be patrolled 24/7 with its miles of thick forests.
Speaking for law enforcers, the fictional Chief Inspector Gamache of the Canadian writer Louise Penny in her novel Glass Houses sums up the problem: “Nothing is stopping these drugs from hitting the streets, from killing mostly young people. Never mind all the crime that goes with drugs. . . We lost the war on drugs years ago and are just going through the motions, because we don’t know what else to do.” Fictional hero stating the cold hard facts.