AMID the government's deadly war on narcotics, President Rodrigo Duterte should look into decriminalizing illicit drugs in the Philippines as an alternative solution to address the drug menace in the country, an Australian businessman said on Wednesday.
Australian businessman Peter Wallace, in a press conference in Malacañang, said that instead of suppressing drugs, the administration should try making narcotics legal in the country.
"There's no question all the numbers seem to say that drug proliferation has declined dramatically. Whether this can be continued, I'm not sure. Experience elsewhere in the world says it will be difficult to do – not impossible but difficult to do. So it may not be the right approach," Wallace said.
"My own thinking, which is very radical even more than his, is to legalize drugs," he added.
Wallace said that in 1998, there had been a worldwide attempt to eliminate drugs in 10 years, spending about P300 billion. He, however, said that such effort had turned out to be a "complete failure."
Instead of curbing the proliferation of drugs, Wallace said the current administration could thoroughly study the benefits of legalizing illegal drugs in the country.
Wallace then cited that Poland had done the drugs' legalization route and had become successful in implementing it.
"So let's look at the example of Poland and see if we can replicate it," he said.
"If you give people something that is legal and not too harmful, maybe you are able to stop the really harmful ones from being wanted. I think it's a kind of research that needs to be done. I can't give an easy answer to it but I think it's worth looking into," Wallace added.
Asked what kinds of drugs he wanted to be legalized, Wallace said: "I think it depends on the drugs. I’m not an expert on drugs. So I haven’t really tried one. But there are some drugs, which are not terribly harmful. There are some, which are terrible."
Wallace then noted that marijuana could be legalized as it had been proven to be "less harmful" than cigarettes.
"Marijuana, for example, is proven medically to be less harmful than cigarettes and yet, cigarettes are legal. So why isn't marijuana? As a very first step, I would legalize marijuana [if I were the President]," he said.
Presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella, however, said that the President was "not" keen on legalizing drugs, when asked if the latter expressed openness to do such proposal.
"[Duterte is] not [inclined to legalizing drugs]. As far as I know, there have been no official statements. I maybe wrong regarding the matter but that's of course a radical opinion by Mr. Wallace," Abella said.
Wallace said that the government should also educate the public about the harms drugs could bring to everyone's health.
He said educating the public would help them realize that being dependent to illegal drugs would put their life in danger.
SOURCE: SUNSTAR
"There's no question all the numbers seem to say that drug proliferation has declined dramatically. Whether this can be continued, I'm not sure. Experience elsewhere in the world says it will be difficult to do – not impossible but difficult to do. So it may not be the right approach," Wallace said.
"My own thinking, which is very radical even more than his, is to legalize drugs," he added.
Wallace said that in 1998, there had been a worldwide attempt to eliminate drugs in 10 years, spending about P300 billion. He, however, said that such effort had turned out to be a "complete failure."
Instead of curbing the proliferation of drugs, Wallace said the current administration could thoroughly study the benefits of legalizing illegal drugs in the country.
Wallace then cited that Poland had done the drugs' legalization route and had become successful in implementing it.
"So let's look at the example of Poland and see if we can replicate it," he said.
"If you give people something that is legal and not too harmful, maybe you are able to stop the really harmful ones from being wanted. I think it's a kind of research that needs to be done. I can't give an easy answer to it but I think it's worth looking into," Wallace added.
Asked what kinds of drugs he wanted to be legalized, Wallace said: "I think it depends on the drugs. I’m not an expert on drugs. So I haven’t really tried one. But there are some drugs, which are not terribly harmful. There are some, which are terrible."
Wallace then noted that marijuana could be legalized as it had been proven to be "less harmful" than cigarettes.
"Marijuana, for example, is proven medically to be less harmful than cigarettes and yet, cigarettes are legal. So why isn't marijuana? As a very first step, I would legalize marijuana [if I were the President]," he said.
Presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella, however, said that the President was "not" keen on legalizing drugs, when asked if the latter expressed openness to do such proposal.
"[Duterte is] not [inclined to legalizing drugs]. As far as I know, there have been no official statements. I maybe wrong regarding the matter but that's of course a radical opinion by Mr. Wallace," Abella said.
Wallace said that the government should also educate the public about the harms drugs could bring to everyone's health.
He said educating the public would help them realize that being dependent to illegal drugs would put their life in danger.
SOURCE: SUNSTAR
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