Illicit Drug use in the Asia Pacific Region - Burnet Institute

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Situational analysis of illicit drug issues and responses in the Asia–Pacific region 230 United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (2004) . Review and Assessment of the Current Organisational Structure of the Central Committee for Drug Abuse Control, Myanmar. Bangkok: UNODC . United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (2004a) . Myanmar Opium Survey . Yangon: UNODC . United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (2004b) . World Drug Report . Volume 2: Statistics . Vienna: United Nations . United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (2005) . Precursor Control: regional project in East Asia . Bangkok: UNODC . United States Department of State, Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (2003) . International narcotics control strategy report . Retrieved 30 November 2004 from http://www .state .gov/g/inl/rls/nrcrpt/ . United States Department of State, Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (2004) . International narcotics control strategy report: South East Asia . Retrieved 15 January 2005 from http://www .state .gov/g/inl/rls/nrcrpt/ . A10 . Philippines Geography Southeastern Asia, archipelago between the Philippine Sea and South China Sea, east of Vietnam . The terrain is mostly mountainous with narrow to extensive coastal lowlands . Arable land: 18 .95% Permanent crops: 16 .77% Other: 64 .28% Government Republic government . President and Vice-President elected by popular vote for six-year terms; election last held 10 May 2004 . The elected President is Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo . Population Population: 84,241,341 Median age: 22 .1 years Age structure: 0–14 years: 35 .8% 15–64 years: 60 .2% 65 years and over: 3 .9% Human development index HDI rank 83 (177 countries) Unemployment rate 11 .4% Languages Filipino (based on Tagalog) and English; major dialects — Tagalog, Cebuano, Ilocan, Hiligaynon or Ilonggo, Bicolano, Kapampangan,Waray, Pampango and Pangasinense Literacy % Age 15 and over can read and write: 92 .6% Religion Roman Catholic 83%, Protestant 9%, Muslim 5%, Buddhist and other 3% Health Life expectancy at birth: Male: 66 .74 years Female: 72 .61 years Infant mortality rate: 24 .24 deaths/1000 live births Adult HIV prevalence: less than 0 .1% Economics GDP: purchasing power parity — $390 .7 billion Income differentials: Lowest 10%: 1 .7% Highest 10%: 38 .4% 231 Country profiles: Philippines
Situational analysis of illicit drug issues and responses in the Asia–Pacific region 232 A10 .1 Narrative summary of drug vulnerabilities The country’s population growth, at 2 .36 per cent, is one of the world’s highest, almost twice the global rate of 1 .30 per cent . Population density is 270 people per square kilometre, however the population is unevenly distributed throughout the islands . Fifty-five per cent of the population lives on the island of Luzon with the greatest concentration in metropolitan Manila . Poverty is a major problem and a serious threat to stability in the Philippines (AusAID, 2004c) . The annual per capita poverty income threshold in 2000 was PHP13,913 (about US$280) . The poverty incidence of families was 34 .2 per cent (2000) while that of the population was 40 per cent (2000) or about 31 .8 million Filipinos living below the poverty line (WHO, 2005) . The Philippines has one of the highest levels of income inequality in Asia, with the poorest 20 per cent of the population accounting for only 5 per cent of the total income or consumption (AusAID, 2004a) . Urbanised areas are rapidly expanding, attracting migrants from rural communities . Young people are also vulnerable to drug use and abuse . About 34 .65 per cent of the population are below the age of 15 and 4 .24 per cent are above the age of 65 . Growing population and urbanisation are creating a ‘youth bulge’ (AusAID, 2004a) . Historical and cultural interactions with drugs Opium use was first reported in the Philippines in the 17th century . The use of opium increased in the latter part of the 19th century as Chinese immigrants took to the habit, something that was tolerated by the authorities . Opium dens were established throughout the country and in 1903, in Manila alone, there were an estimated 190 dens selling a total of 130 tons of opium . By 1906, after the United States banned opium use, there were no legal opium dens, although this did not stop the smuggling operations from China . Opium provided about 4 per cent of colonial revenue and in the end the United States regime decided to restrict the sales to Chinese males and registered 12,700 opium smokers . Over time drug use declined through a mixture of prohibitions and high prices, more so than in other countries of the region (Reid & Costigan, 2002) . By the 1960s, in Manila, heroin laboratories began operation producing small amounts of heroin for the local market . During the early 1970s, production of heroin increased but local demand remained small . With the American War in Vietnam, a steady flow of marijuana, anti-depressants, amphetamines and heroin arrived at the US military bases in the Philippines . Intelligence reports at the time estimated there were 150,000 young drug users . By the late 1970s this dropped to around 12,000 and a period of extreme drug suppression followed; heroin and opiates became scarce but the use of sedatives, tranquillisers, cough syrup and inhalants increased substantially . In the late 1980s, methamphetamines and ephedrine hydrochloride entered the country, mainly via Hong Kong, and became known as shabu . It is mainly smoked, although reports of injecting shabu mixed with analgesic solutions have been reported (Reid & Costigan, 2002) . A10 .2 Prevalence of drug use and profile of drug users Until the completion of the National Household Survey on the Nature and Extent of Drug Abuse by the Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB) for 2004, more recent estimates than 1999 are not yet available . The survey was carried out with the general population aged 10–44 years, with a total of 16,927 respondents being sampled . The survey found that 1445 (8%) were users of illicit drugs . Of this number 4 .3 per cent reported regular use . Based on the survey results, it was estimated 3 .4 million people were current users of illicit drugs, 1 .8 million were regular users, and 1 .6 million were occasional users . As percentages of the 1999 population (79,345,812), 4 .3 per cent were current users of illicit drugs, 2 .2 per cent were regular users of illicit drugs, and 2 per cent were occasional users of illicit drugs . The main drug of abuse is crystal methamphetamine hydrochloride, locally known as ‘shabu’ . Domestically grown cannabis is the second most frequently abused drug, followed by cough and cold preparations, benzodiazepines and inhalants . Ecstasy is becoming increasingly popular as a drug of abuse (Dangerous Drugs Board, 2005) . Records show that, in 2002, the number of barangays (basic political unit, e .g . a local government area) with households having members who are drug abusers was 8 .68 per cent — 3654 of the country’s total 41,946 barangays . Metropolitan Manila has the highest number of drug-affected barangays among the country’s 16 regions, with 20 per cent of its 1694 barangays . Data collection systems in place The Philippines Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB) conducts the National Household Survey on the Nature and Extent of Drug Abuse every five years . Study sites include the National Capital Region, Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao with one thousand households in each study site . The sample is drawn from the following age brackets: 10–19 years, 20–29 years, 30–44 years . Simple random sampling is used . The Integrated Drug Abuse Drug Information Network (IDADIN) is a project implemented by the DDB in collaboration with the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) and the National Centre for Mental Health, in support of the UNODC F-97 regional project, ‘Improving ATS Data and Information Systems’ . The IDADIN aims to establish an infrastructure for better understanding of the patterns of ATS in the region and for exchanging data pertinent to ATS abuse prevention and control . Eight countries including the Philippines are signatories to the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) regarding the implementation of the project at the national level . The other MOU countries include Cambodia, China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia . The regional centre of the project is based in Bangkok, Thailand . Major data providers of IDADIN are: • National Poison Control Center, Philippine General Hospital (national data on mortality and morbity) • Tondo General Hospital Detoxification Unit (national data on mortality and morbidity) • East Avenue Medical Center Detoxification Unit (national data on mortality and morbidity) 233 Country profiles: Philippines
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