Binay: Give drugs board more power

Makati City Mayor Jejomar Binay has asked the House of Representatives to allow the Dangerous Drugs Board (DBB) to determine what new substances to include in the list of prohibited drugs.

In a letter to Senate President Franklin Drilon and House Speaker Jose de Venecia, Binay argued that the move to include the popular drug Ecstacy in the list could be facilitated by giving the DDB the power to add or remove substances from the list.

The move to include Ecstasy has been initiated through an amendment of the Dangerous Drugs Act and is currently being deliberated in the bicameral committee.

"Until such time, law enforcers have no legal basis to stop the drug from being peddled and used by those who choose to do so," Binay said.

Binay explained that the efforts of the drug enforcement units of the Philippine National Police to apprehend the users and dealers of Ecstasy have been hampered by the absence of a legal basis to prosecute.

Because Ecstasy is not yet included in the list, it is technically still not considered illegal.

Binay pointed out that something similar is happening in Japan where a type of mushroom has become a craze because of its hallucinogenic properties.

However, because there is no classification of the substance under the prohibited drugs list, the authorities are powerless to do anything about it.

He added that new types of drugs will continue to be developed in the future and there is a need to classify them as illegal.

"Rather than go through the same painstaking process of amending the existing law for their inclusion in the list, I hope that the Senate and Congress would see it fit to consider the proposal favorably," Binay said.

Binay’s reaction was prompted by recent reports tagging Makati City as the so-called center for Ecstasy in Metro Manila.– Marvin Sy