Deretsahan

By October 6, 2014Archives, News

Marijuana, still no proof for medicinal cure

BEBOT VILLAR

By Bebot Villar

THERE are renewed discussions on the use of marijuana in the country for medical purposes. This time, ang mga doctors ang may gustong malaman if marijuana can really cure certain ailments.

Last Tuesday, ang Philippine College of Physicians, the Philippine Medical Association, the Philippine Neurological Association, the Philippine League of Epilepsy, at ang Pain Society of Philippine proposed ang pag-buo ng task force that will draw research proposals “to know if medical cannabis is effective in addressing the different claimed medical conditions.”

Sa pahayag na ito ng mga doctors, it’s clear na they have not seen scientific proof na nakakagamot nga ang marijuana. At simula noong lumabas ang proposal para sa legalization ng marijuana for medical purposes, malinaw na rin ang ating mariing pagtutol sa proposal.

Sana maging comprehensive ang isasagawang research para natuldukan na rin ang usaping ito. For me. marijuana is an illegal addictive substance at marami nang buhay, lalo na ng mga kabataan, ang sinira nito not only here but in other countries. And if it is legalized for medical use, tiyak mas malawak pang pinsala ang idudulot nito.

Huwag na nating dagdagan pa ang problema natin sa illegal drugs. We can win the war against it. But first, let us be part of the solution, instead of adding to the problem.

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Iba na talaga ang mga kabataan ngayon. According to the Young Adult Fertility and Sexuality study conducted last year by the University of the Philippines’ Population Institute and Demographic Research and Development Foundation, one in every 10 girls, ages 15 to 19 years old, in the Ilocos region is already a mother.

This simply means that some of the girls may still be in high school when they got pregnant, something unheard of 10 years ago. During those times, pregnancy while in high school was not even imagined because high school girls are just kids!

This new finding is alarming since we are talking about welfare of young girls.

Sabi nga ng isang doktor, the body of a teenager is not yet prepared for the burden of child bearing. Ang masaklap pa dito, kapag nabuntis na, the girl stops schooling at kapag nakapanganak na, usually malabo nang bumalik sa eskuwelahan dahil aasikasuhin na niya ang kanyang anak.

But then again, there is a question on how a young mother can take care of her child. Aasa sa mga magulang? For how long? Worse, these teenagers can not even get married because they are minors.

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The study also noted that there was an increased sexual activity among the youth in the Ilocos Region in the last 10 years, owing to lack of knowledge in preventing pregnancy.

The study also said that youth in the Ilocos Region in the last 10 years had their first sexual intercourse at 17.6 years old for males and 17.8 years old for females. If it is any consolation, the proportion of those who had sex before 15 years old had decreased that only about 2.3 percent of boys and 1.3 percent of girls had sex before 15.

Ang tanong: why is this happening to our youth today? Ang lumabas sa study ay dahil mas accessible na sa kanila ngayon ang mga pornographic materials sa Internet. In fact, lumabas ito sa study. Nakakalungkot din ang finding na may mga ilang kabataang pumapayag makipag-sex in exchange for cell phone load! Tsk, tsk, tsk.

Dapat mai-disseminate ang resulta ng survey sa lahat ng mga concerned government agencies at kahit sa mga parents para mayroon silang magagamit na basis sa pagbuo ng mga programa para sa mga kabataan.

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Noong September 16, I as chairman of the Dangerous Drugs Board, attended the re-activation meeting ng Pangasinan Anti-Drug Abuse Council (PADAC) headed by ng aking kumpareng si Gov. Amado Espino Jr.

Bagama’t iyon ang unang meeting ng PADAC, it was a very good opportunity to take a look at the illegal drugs situation in my beloved province and discuss with law enforcement agencies what should be done to immediately address it.

According to regional director Adrian Alvarino of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA)-Region 1, there are 96 of the more than 1,300 barangays in Pangasinan that are drug affected. He said that PDEA had listed 26 persons in their target list, 186 under watch list, and 9 for its wanted list. From January to August 2014, PDEA has seized a total of 684.02514 grams of shabu and 4,477.634 grams of marijuana.

Mahalaga sigurong malaman ng marami na naging maganda pa rin ang accomplishment ng PDEA kahit na 31 lamang ang agents ang nakatalaga sa buong Ilocos Region.

Kaya nga palagi kong sinasabi na mahalaga ang pakikipagtulungan sa PDEA ng mga local government units mula probinsya hanggang sa barangay level sa paglaban sa illegal na droga.

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