Illegal Drug Prevention Program of Quezon City Towards a Mitigation Implementation Model

Abstract

The drug menace in the Philippines continued evolving through the years. The problem requires an intensive and enhanced drug prevention method through influential core factors and scientific interventions tailored to fit existing programs within the social contexts. Investing in efforts that deter people, especially the youth, from using illicit drugs would greatly benefit society. Drug abstinence can lead to more beneficial learning outcomes, healthier families, a more productive workforce, safer communities, and longer life expectancy. Investing in drug supply and drug demand reduction programs will pay dividends in the future. It will determine the future of the following generation of Filipinos and dramatically transform the Philippine security landscape.

This study employed the descriptive research design, which according to Etheridge (2004), can be explained as a statement of affairs as they are present with the researcher having no control over the variable. This design is appropriate for this study because it determines the assessment of the police officers and their supervisors on the drug prevention program in Quezon City-NCR, which can be explained, described, or identified through a quantitative survey by the prospective respondents of this study.

Prevention can be roughly characterized as non-coercive efforts to prevent, reduce, or delay the onset of drug use or its consequences, such as clinical symptoms of drug dependence and public safety hazards. This paradigm focuses on non-legal, non-coercive techniques to reduce drug usage among communities that aren't yet heavily reliant on drugs. They include efforts to educate people on the consequences of substance use, to modify people's ideas about the acceptability or utility of substance use, and to increase or make the costs of substance use more prominent. It is proven that the evaluation of drug prevention interventions has become pervasive and is now part of everyday activity, either in public, non-profit, or voluntary sectors.

Pieces of evidence imply that Quezon City's illicit drug prevention program was not planned in terms of intervention planning, process evaluation, monitoring system, and outcome evaluation. Law enforcement and rehabilitation are well-planned, but education and information distribution are only partially implemented, with rehabilitation being a low priority. It performs well in process evaluation but falls short in intervention planning and outcome evaluation. The implementation versus support/resource capabilities has a low degree of implementation, but there is a substantial degree of support/resource capabilities. The planned activities have a moderate link with their consequences, whereas the implemented activities have a low degree of relationship. Various elements influence the implementation of these programs, including the development and implementation of the illegal drug-use prevention program, the available support/resource capabilities, and the repercussions of those capacities.