EDITORIAL - Again, address the demand

There are two worrying developments in the drug situation in Cebu. One is the possible rise of a Cebu City barangay as a possible drug hotspot. The other is Cebu Island itself becoming a transshipment point for drugs from all over the country.

According to Cebu City police they are now closely watching Barangay Inayawan as it is seems to be turning into a center of drug activities. Meanwhile, police also said they have observed drug traffic to and from Cebu with places like Leyte, Luzon, and Mindanao.

Both developments clearly show that the fight against drugs is far from over.

As if to underscore this fact, drug peddlers are still being arrested almost every day. Just the other day four people were arrested with P4.7 million worth of drugs in Barangay Buhisan. Last Tuesday ?12 million worth of shabu were nabbed from two alleged high-value drug suspects in Barangay Bulacao.

It’s sad that seizures of drugs amounting in the millions of pesos are now becoming more common, and we don’t think this is just due to inflation. While this may show police are actively working against drugs, it also shows that the supply and demand for drugs isn’t slowing down anytime soon.

Which brings us to our point; there seems to be a lot of operations targeting the drug supply, but not enough against the demand for drugs.

As we said in a previous editorial, fighting the demand for drugs is just as important as targeting the supply because if there is no demand then the supply will not be needed at all.

Again we ask this administration, as well as the police and other authorities, to pay as much attention on dealing with the demand as with the supply. It should not make the mistake of the previous administration that concentrated most of its attention on the supply part of the problem, but not enough on eliminating the demand.