A drug trafficker is arrested in Pasig (Source: EPA/VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – The number of drug users in the Philippines has declined by more than half from 4 million in 2016 to 1.67 million in 2019, three years after President Rodrigo Duterte launched a crackdown on drug use, a survey has shown.
The country’s Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB) recently released the survey on the patterns and trends of drug abuse results conducted from December 2019 to February 2020.
In a televised address to the nation on October 19 evening, Duterte cited the survey saying around 1.67 million or two out of 100 Filipinos aged 10 to 69 are using drugs.
Duterte warned drug users and dealers anew to stop, saying the bad habit endangers the national security.
The DDB said the survey shows a clear significant decline which can be attributed to the success of the government's anti-drug campaign and steadfast priority given by the government to create drug-free communities under the Duterte administration.
About 65.8 percent of the respondents are aware of the government's campaign against illicit drugs. Of those who are aware, 81.6 percent support the campaign, the DDB said.
Respondents of the survey are Filipinos aged 10 to 69 randomly selected from 9,341 households in all the 17 regions of the country./.
VNA
