THE Philipine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) views the establishment of the Drug Treatment and Rehabilitation Center in Dagupan City last week is a big boon to the campaign against illegal drugs.

Director Adrian Alvarino of PDEA in Region 1 considers the center, the first in the region and the biggest in the whole country, as one of the vital support systems in the anti-drug campaign.

Alvarino said under the anti-drugs act of 2012, the Department of Health (DOH) is mandated to facilitate the rehabilitation of those being arrested for illegal drugs use.

The center, which now offers residential and outpatient services to patients, is under the Department of Health (DOH) thru the Region 1 Medical Center (R1MC) based in Dagupan City.

Operating under the same drug treatment protocol as the older drug rehab center in Bicutan and Tagaytay, it treats and rehabilitate patients hooked into drugs from six months to eight months maximum, said Raymund Basbas, the center’s administrative officer.

While the PDEA endorses the anti-drug law, it is the DOH that determines the drug dependents that need rehabilitation. However, no patient is admitted until there is an order from the court directing his/her treatment.

With the drug treatment and rehab facility, the demand side in the problem of illegal drugs will be effectively addressed, Alvarino told newsmen.

The center, however, does not accept patients who have drug cases or those that have already been convicted for a drug offense.

All the current 46 residential patients of the facility are males as the center has no residential program for females yet. Their residential program started in July. (Leonardo Micua)

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