YELLOW PAD

Reuben recounted he stopped using shabu without any help after his son was born.

alcohol. Some even prefer it because it gave them “just the right” amount of laughter and conversations, without the hangover. In the same thread, shabu is used like coffee. Pedicab drivers use it to stay awake and work longer hours to earn more for their families.

Did the young people consider themselves “addicts” because of this? It depends.

They made a clear distinction between those just using ( gumagamit lang) and those they saw as “addicted ( adik)”. “Nasa’yo naman kung gagamitin mo yung shabu o ikaw yung

magpapagamit sa shabu (It’s up to you if it is you who will use

shabu, or you will be the one consumed by it),” one of the respondents opined.

Drug use was seen on a spectrum, which reflects what many others have begun to understand. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) reports that the majority of people (9 out of every 10) who use drugs all over the world do not use drugs in ways that are problematic. Generally, this means they do not hurt anyone, they do not use the substance in ways that increase the risk of disease transmission, or they do not get “addicted” or “dependent” on the substance. They just use substances for functional, social, or other personal reasons. and we need to find ways to engage them and help them,” Dr. Gideon Lasco emphasized.

It wasn’t easy to get these stories from the respondents. They live in a community where death squads murdered people suspected of using drugs even before 2016. They had little trust in the government or law enforcement after experiencing its corruption firsthand.

But it was necessary in order to hear these narratives. It was necessary to establish a safe space where these young people could talk openly about their experiences with illicit drug use without fearing for their lives or future. And if we want illicit drug policies that are responsive to the experience of the Filipino people, we need more conversations like these.

“With discussions like this, we begin to see and continue to learn, and embrace people who use drugs as part of humanity,” NoBox Philippines’ founder, Ma. Inez Feria underscored. “This isn’t just a criminal or public health issue, it’s a human issue. At the end of the day, it’s not about the drugs, it’s always about the people.”