Dumaguete Police Chief Col. Dionardo Carlos said that based on the profile of current Filipino drug users released by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, chances are high that an urban center like Dumaguete will soon be teeming with illegal drug activities.

Carlos, who spoke during the Kapihan forum conducted by the Philippine Information Agency, sounded the alarm in an effort to contain the illegal drugs problem in the city.

If you're single, below 30 years old, receiving an income or allowance of at least P4,700, and live in an urban area like Dumaguete City, then you're at high risk of becoming a drug addict, he said.

Carlos, quoting data released by the PDEA, said that majority of the young people living in Dumaguete and Oriental Negros fit the profile of the current Filipino drug users in the country.

According to the PDEA, most of the drug users are between 22 to 29 years old, single and have access to money of at least P4,700.00, whether from allowance or income.

A study done in 2004 pegs the total illegal drug users in the country at 6.8 million, a big leap from the 3.4 million recorded in 1999.

Of the total, more than 80 percent live in urban areas.

"Based on that data, Dumaguete is at high risk. A lot of people here are young, have access to income or allowance and the selling of shabu exists in the city," Carlos said.

Being a university town of which 1/3 of the total population are students, student population can reach up to 100,000 during daytime, said Carlos.

From his observation, he said, the way the students spend their free time is not helping either. "The favorite pastime of teens here is going out on gimmicks on Wednesday and Friday nights, smoking cigarettes and drinking liquor or beer. These two are gateway drugs," he stressed.

Carlos explained that cigarets and liquor are dubbed as gateway drugs because they will lead to the use of illegal drugs.

This situation is aggravated by the absence of neither parents nor guardians as most students here are from far places. "If they are not monitored…the possibility that they will be involved in illegal drugs is medyo mataas," he added.

The police chief cautioned parents to see to it that their children here are monitored if not by them, then by their guardians. "Even if the parents are far, dapat ma-monitor ang mga bata. Because of these conditions, it's a big possibility that we here will be highly affected by (illegal drugs)," said Carlos.

He warned that the four critical entry and exit points of illegal drugs shipment identified by PDEA exist in the city - airports, seaports, mail system, and shoreline. "We have all these critical entry and exit points here. The problem is these points are not properly guarded," Carlos disclosed.

He said the police, PDEA and the local government units are doing all they can to crack down on the illegal drug activities.

"The point here is not the number of arrests we do in a year, but more on community involvement, and how we can work hand in hand…we have to raise our guard," he stressed.*RG

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