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[av_heading heading=’Poverty – criminality – drugs’ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=” subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=”]
BY OSCAR CRUZ
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WHY is there criminality all over the country, criminals in all regions, crimes night and day?
Why is there so much prohibited drugs, so many drug selling, quasi-innumerable drug users?
Why is there an overspread of extrajudicial killings, hideous summary executions, downright murders, buy-bust operations?
Why are there no jobs in the Philippines? How did the OFW phenomenon come about?
Why are there families living by the canals, under the bridges, in garbage dumps?
Why is dirty food eaten, tattered clothes worn, begging a common sight?
The drug situation in other countries may have different overall causes. But in the Philippines, its overall causal origin is poverty and misery – courtesy of the past administration. Wealth is but for a chosen few – like those having lucrative business ventures such as selling electricity, fuel and water even.Hereafter, it could be air that they would be selling next.
But miserable living conditions in miserable houses built in miserable places, the people therein are highly susceptible to drug quest, purchase and use. Life is hard and living is difficult. Prohibited drug in-take makes a good palliative.
This is certainly not about criminals due to a criminal personality constitution. These big social liabilities rightfully belong to mental asylums not really for personal constitutional cure but for the protection of the general public.
Yes. They remain human persons with human rights although dangerous to other human persons. So it is for their own safety and the safety as well of others – always with the possibility of some rehabilitation although not perfect in outcome – they should be separated from society for the good of all.
So it is that poverty generates criminality which leads to the manufacture, sale and use of prohibited drugs. This is not meant to say that there are no criminals in affluent countries. Neither is this intended to affirm illegal drugs are distributed, bought and used only by poor people. But it us a standing fact in the Philippines that illegal drugs available for buy and sale – for their users to enjoy, to relax, to forget, to become indifferent, to feel at ease, to be numb.
So it is that there will be crimes here and there, of one kind or another. And so it is the illegal drug trade will be on and on-going as a matter of fact. But make life easier to live, make living more promising and enjoyable, do away not simply with poverty but misery as well, less criminality there will be and very much less illegal drug fabrication and distribution, less illegal drug purchase and use will come to fore.
No. This is not to say that illegal drugs are the cause of all kinds of poverty, all kinds of criminality. This is but an affirmation that – as far as the Philippines is concerned – it is the destitution and want among millions of Filipinos that foment criminality, that foster illegal drugs sale and use.
So it is that much crime is caused by much poverty which in turn leads to much prohibited drug use. Again: The pervasive poverty in the Country fosters criminality which in turn thrives in illegal drug buy and sell. Perhaps – just perhaps – instead of priority attention given by the government to altogether stopping illegal drug production-sale-fruition, attention to the socio-economic development should be instead its priority focus./PN
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