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Thursday, March 18, 2004
Critics not high on Osmeña’s plan to expose kids to drugs
CEBU City Mayor Tomas Osmeña wants to make the youth less curious about illegal drugs by exposing them to it and making them interact with drug addicts in the classroom.
Although he knows that it cannot be implemented, the mayor said he still wants his suggestion known to the public so it can stir a debate on the alternative means of solving the problem on drug addiction.
He came up with the suggestion after realizing that efforts of the police, the Department of Education (DepEd) and other anti-illegal drugs agencies are not enough to counter the drug menace.
Opposition Councilor Eugenio Gabuya Jr. criticized the proposal, pointing out that mere possession of marijuana is already illegal.
“First, he wants to legalize tigbakay. Now, he wants the students to taste marijuana to satisfy their curiosity. Sus Ginoo, kadaghan na kaha sa drug addicts ana,” Gabuya told Sun.Star.
Osmeña also announced yesterday that the City Government will launch a barangay-based campaign on the certification of “drug-free” households in the city.
Since the youth are bound to be exposed to illegal drugs, it would be safer to educate them about it in a controlled environment like the classrooms rather than in an environment where no one can look after them, the mayor said.
“We want to expose them to illegal drugs from the standpoint of addressing their curiosity. I went to the point where I even recommend the lighting of the marijuana stick in the classroom,” Osmeña said.
“We’re not going to implement it because it’s only an idea for discussion. There has to be a public debate on this so we can look for ways and means to address the problem on drugs, beyond what they are already doing,” he added.
Osmeña suggested that the students be made to smell shabu and marijuana and learn about injectible drugs “to give a factual, credible situation.”
He added that the students should also interact with reformed addicts so that they can decide for themselves if they want to go through the same experience.
“Of course, we’re not going to tell them, ‘Here, you suck this drug or you inject it’. The point here is to address the issue on curiosity, which DepEd or the police is not doing,” Osmeña said.
He told a press conference yesterday that the campaign of the police and anti-drugs agencies is helpful but not enough.
Starting next month, the City Government will use the campaign of Naga City on the certification of “drug-free” households.
Osmeña said it is a positive way of declaring that there are no drugs or drug addicts in the households in Cebu City.
The committee that will handle the project, headed by Lihok Pilipina’s Tessie Fernandez, has yet to discuss how the program will work and what the basis will be for declaring that the household is drug-free.
“It may be easy for people to lie about it but what is important is that we will put honor and glamour in saying that there is no drugs in this house,” Osmeña said. LCR
(March 18, 2004 issue)
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