THE Davao City Anti-Drug Abuse Council (CADAC) urged lawmakers to craft laws that would protect children from using illegal substances.
“Nakita gyud didto sa study ang vulnerability gyud sa kabatan-onan (The study shows the vulnerability of the young people) and so the thrust now of the city, through the City Health Office, is to reduce the vulnerability in terms of early onset of drug abuse,” Cadac technical adviser Ronaldo Rivera said during the iSpeak forum on April 13, 2023.
“Because the use of tobacco and alcohol is a form of substance abuse. So kana tanan karon among giduso sa (That is what we are pushing for at the) Committee on Health,” he added.
Rivera said the CADAC pushes “legislation that specifies the context of the provision of social protection,” one that “aims to reduce risk of vulnerability.”
Cadac said the policy that they are lobbying aims to promote community-based measures and protection, and not punishment.
As of now, Rivera said they have intensified their school-based programs, including the monitoring of high-risk children.
Meanwhile, Cadac led to this call to the lawmakers to create an ordinance due to the result of their descriptive analysis.
Cadac conducted the study on 65 children in conflict with the law (CICL) from the care of Balay Pag-asa and Sidlakan Center, said as early as eight years old, children are already exposed to alcohol, while 14 years old was the average age of children that was first exposed to alcohol consumption.
Most of the children who had their first exposure to tobacco were between 13 to 14 years old with 11 cases and followed by 15 years old with six cases.
In the first use of marijuana, at the age of nine, children are already “tempted to use it”. Cadac said most cases are children aged 15 years old.
The age of the first use of the solvent, including thinner and rugby, recorded was common from ages 14 to 15 years old.
While as early as 13 to 16 years old, children are already exposed to the usage of shabu.
Also, Cadac study shows that 37 of the cases of the CICLs who use illegal substances were influenced by their family members – 15 cases were influenced by their fathers, 11 cases by brothers, mothers with five cases, three cases were influenced by their sisters and three cases influenced by their grandfathers. KSD