Time to review penalties for nonviolent drug offenders

Republic Act No. 9165 (the Dangerous Drugs Law of 2002, which radically amended RA 6425 or the Dangerous Drugs Law of 1972) was enacted to curb the menace of illicit drugs in the country. It is a draconian law because it increased a hundredfold the penalties for drug offenses, and it eliminated the mitigating circumstances that could have reduced the sentences of convicted drug offenders. Thus, its immediate and dramatic effect was the imprisonment of an unprecedented number of Filipinos, mostly young Filipinos from the poorer class.

Possession of a mere 0.2 grams of marijuana elicits imprisonment of 12 years and one day to 20 years, and a fine of P300,000 to P400,000. The law provides for a ladderized imprisonment period depending on the amount of possession and sale of dangerous drugs.

No wonder that our prisons are bursting at the seams. And what is pathetic is that a great number of young Filipinos, mostly poor kids who may have just made bad choices in their struggle to eke out a living, are jailed for nonviolent drug offenses for a long, long time, practically robbing them of their youth.

Poor Filipino kids mostly bear the brunt of the draconian drug law simply because they cannot afford the services of a good lawyer. The only good thing for the Philippines is that they are not alone in this situation. In the United States, “middle class kids don’t get locked up for smoking pot, but poor kids do,” according to US President Barack Obama in an article last year in The New Yorker.

Recently, Obama declared that something needs to be done about the inequities for minor drug offenses (“Obama’s Legacy Project,” Time, 2/24/14). Late last year, he commuted the prison terms of eight convicted drug offenders, and he called his decision an important first step toward restoring fundamentals of ideals, justice and fairness. Much earlier, he ordered his aides to draw up a list of nonviolent clemency candidates and to undertake a new sweeping review of the prosecutorial practices that might result in disproportionate sentences. And he emphasized that something needs to be done about the inequities in punishment for minor drug offenses.

In our country, it is high time our legislature revisited and amended our antiquated illicit drug law. And it is truly high time President Aquino undertook the commutation of sentences of thousands of young Filipinos convicted of nonviolent drug offenses, and released them in preparation for the caging of a new breed of violent offenders—those guilty of pork barrel scams that our good bishops have categorized as an “act of terror” against the Filipino people.

Finally, it is hoped that the Dangerous Drugs Law be amended in such a way that nonviolent youth offenders would be treated with liberality by reducing the duration of imprisonment and by restoring the provision on mitigating circumstances to allow judges more leeway in imposing penalties on nonviolent youth offenders.

—EDWARD CONTRERAS,

edcontreras88@gmail.com