DDB says 1.67 million illegal drug users in the country

October 14, 2020

The Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB) on Wednesday said there are around 1.67 million illegal drug users in the country.

In a statement, DDB said based on the results of the 2019 National Household Survey on the Patterns and Trends of Drug Abuse, the user prevalence rate is at 2.05 percent, significantly lower than the 2018 global estimates of 5.3 percent published in the World Drug Report 2020.

It also said that two out of one hundred Filipinos aged 10 to 69 are current users of drugs.

“Noting the results of the 2019 Drug Survey and comparing it to the estimates of four million Filipino drug users in 2016 based on anti-drug operations and intelligence data, it shows a clear significant decline which can be attributed to the success of the government’s anti-drug campaign and steadfast priority given by the government to create drug-free communities under the current administration,” DDB said.

According to the survey, the 5.8 percent lifetime user prevalence rate means about 4.73 million or six out of every 100 Filipinos aged 10-69 tried drugs at least once.

DDB found that cannabis or marijuana was found to be the most commonly abused dangerous drug at 57 percent followed by methamphetamine hydrochloride or shabu at 35 percent.

“For lifetime users, the average age when most of them started trying drugs is 22 years old. Of the current users, on the other hand, most belong to the age group of 18-59 years old,” according to the survey.

In terms of the general public’s awareness of dangerous drugs and substances, they found that shabu was seen to be the most well-known at 47.9 percent followed by marijuana at 35 percent.

DDB said the survey showed that most respondents are aware of the negative effects of drug use such as problems on health, separation from family, and damage on self-image.

When asked about modes of rehabilitation, 42.2 percent of  respondents considered the household to be the most helpful, followed by police at 33.9 percent and the local government at 26.1 percent.

The survey also gave an insight to the connection of other risky behaviors such as smoking and drinking to drug use.

It found that those who started smoking at 15 years old and below have greater chances of becoming drug users. In the same way, those who started drinking at 18 years old and below are more likely to be drug users.

DDB said results indicate high public awareness and approval of the government’s anti-drug campaign.

About 65.8 percent of respondents are aware of the government’s campaign against drugs. Of those who are aware, 81.6 percent approved of the campaign while a high number of respondents also believe the  situation under the present administration has greatly improved.

“It showed that the directions and programs that the government have undertaken under the current administration have been proven effective as evidenced by the public’s acceptance of the government’s anti-drug campaign and the drop in the user prevalence rate,” it said.

“It can be concluded that the government not only succeeded in flattening the user prevalence rate but has also reversed the trend,” it added.

The 2019 survey was undertaken by the DDB in partnership with the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) and i-Metrics Asia Pacific Corp.

Initial preparation for the survey started as early as May 2019 including conceptualization of research design, methodology, and survey questionnaire in consultation with the PSA.

The DSWD was engaged for the data gathering activities from December 2019 to February 2020, while the research and information technology solutions provider, I-Metrics Asia Pacific Corporation, was contracted for the data analysis.

Respondents were Filipinos aged 10-69 randomly selected from 9,341 households in all the 17 regions of the country.

It can be noted that at the start of the Duterte administration in 2016, DDB and its previous leadership reported there were 1.8 million Filipinos using drugs based on the 2015 survey.

The previous findings, however, did not use proxy indicators used in the data gathering and analysis of the 2019 Drug Survey.

Thus, DDB along with key anti-drug law enforcement agencies, deemed the four million figure as the best estimate of the number of drug users in 2016. Ella Dionisio/DMS