Tuesday, November 28, 2006 Police torch seized drugs By Ruby P. Silubrico
THE Police Regional Office (PRO) in Western Visayas and the Philippine Drugs Enforcement Agency (PDEA) torched Monday some confiscated marijuana and shabu.
The team was headed by Police Regional Director Geary Barias and PDEA Chief Rolen Balquin along with the Department of Justice representative, Prosecutor Joseph Javier. They torched 17 kilos of marijuana and two grams of shabu that were confiscated from 1985 to 1989.
The Dangerous Drugs Board ordered the burning.
The DDB directed all regions that seized drugs involved in cases that were resolved by the court, should be burned. This way, a recycling or abuse of the seized drugs can be avoided.
The DDB wanted to avoid a repeat of an incident in Manila where several kilos of shabu worth millions of pesos were reported missing and were disposed.
"I hope that here in Region 6, no recycling incident will happen. That's why we have to burn the drugs that were confiscated long years ago," Balquin said.
He added that another burning would be conducted on January 2007.
Cost
Meanwhile, Balquin said in the past three months, the cost of shabu has increased to P5,000 to P7,000 per gram. This is a 50 percent increase compared to the last six months wherein the cost was at P2,500 to P3,000 per gram.
He also said there is scarcity in drugs because of the dismantling of their laboratories and the raids that took place.
He said another factor is the security measures and keen monitoring by the police of all shipments in ports.
He added that Metro Manila, Cebu and Mindanao remain the main sources of shabu. The Cordillera Autonomous Region and Region 1 are main sources of marijuana.
Harmful effects
Marijuana is a green or gray mixture of dried, shredded flowers and leaves of the hemp plant Cannabis sativa. It is the most often used illegal drug in this country.
Within a few minutes of inhaling marijuana smoke, the user will likely feel, along with intoxication, a dry mouth, rapid heartbeat, some loss of coordination and poor sense of balance, and slower reaction time. Blood vessels in the eye expand, so the user's eyes look red.
For some people, marijuana raises blood pressure slightly and can double the normal heart rate. This effect can be greater when other drugs are mixed with marijuana; but users do not always know when that happens.
As the immediate effects fade, usually after two to three hours, the user may become sleepy.
Meanwhile, shabu or methamphetamine can be smoked, snorted, injected intravenously or ingested (tablets). The effect sought-after is a strong stimulation, leading to a high.
Methamphetamine can, at the same time, lead to agitation, violent behavior, panic attacks and hallucinations.
The effects are attributed to an increased liberation of dopamine in the brain. Toxic and potentially life-threatening effects can include epileptiform convulsions, coma, dangerously elevated body temperature, cardiovascular problems, apoplectic fit, muscle cell destruction and psychoses. Exceptionally, renal damage has also been observed.
Consumption of methamphetamine has a high abuse and dependence potential. Recent research indicates the possibility of irreversible nerve cell damage following chronic methamphetamine abuse.
