A Citizen’s Guide To Drug Treatment and Rehabilitation

Drugs and Crimes

Majority of us citizens, are not educated on the procedure how a drug dependent is to be rehabilitated. There are lawyers and doctors who are at loss on how a son or daughter is to be rehabilitated.

Drug dependency is a disease and needs professional intervention. There are those who hide, cover or keep among themselves the drug dependency of a family member. This is what we call self-treatment, but often this is unsuccessful, and the drug dependent continues with the vice.

In Cebu, there is only one government rehabilitation center and that is located in Argao, Cebu (for male residents) and for female residents it is located in Eversley, at Mandaue City, Cebu.

There are private rehabilitation centers that could also help a drug dependent. If a family member is into drugs, and should be rehabilitated, you have to contact a rehabilitation center.

The Argao Rehabilitation is managed by Dr. David Baron, the center’s director.

Under the law (Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002) it mandates that every barangay must have its own Barangay Drug Rehabilitation Referral Desk. Its duty is to guide the family on how a person is to be rehabilitated. In the event that there is none in your barangay, you proceed to the nearest Parole Probation Administration (PPA). This is because the PPA is the authorized representative of the Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB), for under the law, it requires that all petition for rehabilitation must be filed by the Dangerous Drugs Board.

Basically, there are two kinds of petition for rehabilitation, the voluntary and involuntary. The voluntary rehabilitation however is a hypocritical title, because almost all drug dependents do not voluntarily confine themselves. That is the reason why petitions could be filed by a parent, wife, husband or children of the drug dependent.

A DDB Regulation also allows the Drug Center the confinement of a drug dependent for fifteen days to secure the court order. Another important requirement in the petition for rehabilitation is the Drug Dependency Examination (DDE) by a DDB Accredited Physician.

All the Drug Rehabilitation Centers have its own DDB Accredited Physician.

If you are from Cebu City, you could proceed to the COSAP or the Cebu City Office for Substance Abuse Prevention under the leadership of Dr. Alice T. Utlang, its Executive Director located at the 2nd Floor of the City Health Department. The City Government also has its DDB Accredited Physicians in the City Health Department.

The reason why there is a need for a court order is because drug dependents are great manipulators and sometimes with the help of opportunistic lawyers file cases of kidnapping against the rehabilitation centers.

The COSAP could also be of help by providing you with a list of private rehabilitation centers in Cebu you could choose. In the government rehab, the initial budget for the admission would amount to P15,000 to P18,000, and a monthly cost sharing of P6,000 pesos.

It is not only the legal procedure that you should take care of, but more importantly the emotional courage for having a family member confined in a drug rehabilitation center. It always takes courage for a family member to decide of having someone rehabilitated.

Please share this to a friend or a relative, it may help him/her and enlighten him on how a loved one be rehabilitated for drug dependency.

About the Author: Clarence Paul V. Oaminal is a lawyer and author of ‘The Textbook on The Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002’. He is the Vice-chairman and Undersecretary of the Dangerous Drugs Board and is the current adviser and presiding officer of Cebu City Anti-Drug Abuse Council. He also hosts the local advocacy program ‘Krimen ug Drugas’ in CCTN Channel 47.