Shabu as a cure
HOW’S this as an excuse for drug addiction? A 52-year-old woman from Talisay City blamed her doctor for prescribing methamphetamine as an alternative medicine for her cough. That was how Mercideta Mabala Fernandez got hooked on shabu. Or so she claimed.
Last Friday afternoon, Fernandez was arrested along with six others during a saturation drive conducted by operatives of the Provincial Intelligence Branch (PIB), Provincial Drug Enforcement Unit, Provincial Public Safety Company and Regional Maritime Unit 7 in Barangay Tangke. Authorities seized three small packs of shabu from her.
I don’t know what she said about that, but maybe they should check if she’s still sick. After all, if she is, then that would explain why she had the drugs on her. And while they’re at it, they should also ask her for the prescription. Unless, of course, she selfmedicated.
Anyway, she did not identify her physician, but she told police that he has a clinic in the city. Now, if there is any grain of truth to her fantastic claim, which I really doubt, what did she hope to gain with her revelation?
Did she think she would get off the hook with just a slap on the wrist? Or did she expect the public to exonerate her from the accusation because she was only following doctor’s orders.
Either way, it looked like Fernandez refused to be held accountable for her actions. Otherwise, why blame a third party for her vice? Unless, of course, her physician forced her to suck the smoke from an evaporating crystal, a scenario that I find hard to believe. Still, Fernandez did succeed in piquing the police’s interest.
Supt. Joie Yape Jr., PIB 7 chief, said they would look into her allegation. If she was telling the truth—and that means I’m still 36—the doctor will be held liable.
I admire Yape for wanting to cover all his bases, but he of all people should know that any information gleaned from a drug addict is automatically suspect. That’s why, in this case, I’m advising him to “let it go.”
Although, did you know that Coca Cola did contain cocaine in varying amounts for a period of four decades, or from 1886, when the tonic was first introduced to the public, to 1929, when the drug was still legal?
Coca Cola syrup was initially sold as a medicine with claims that it would get rid of fatigue and headaches.
Maybe Fernandez’s doctor, if he really does exist, knew about this and put two and two together--shabu is considered the poor man’s cocaine. And if cocaine has medicinal properties, why not the former? If no antibiotic could cure Fernandez’s cough, maybe shabu was the answer. Hey! It could happen.