It makes sense to require all television networks employees and talents to undergo drug test as director-general Aaron Aquino, chief of the Philippine Drugs Enforcement Agency, suggested the other day.
Aquino singled out the TV networks apparently in answer to an interview question in relation to the inclusion of at least 31 entertainment celebrities in President Rodrigo Duterte’s dreaded narco-list.
The PDEA chief said the list can easily reach over a 100 big names on the screens who use shabu, cocaine and designer drugs and he suggested that radio-tv networks make drug test “mandatory.”
Drug addiction among tv and movie personalities, who serve as “role models” to youngsters, has been rampant for as long as we can remember. It is only now that this is being seriously addressed. Entertainers comprise a juicy market to drug dealers and many lives have been destroyed.
But as far as I’m concerned, it would be a stroke of genius if he had recommended that drug test be made mandatory at all workplaces.
I support the proposal of the Anti-Crime & Terrorism thru Community Involvement (ACT-CIS) to make drug test a “pre-employment requirement” at all private, as well as government institutions.
The usual “random drug test” conducted at the offices is not enough to ferret out drug users and addicts among the workers, who find a way to avoid it.
In fact, a drug test must be required of all high school and college students upon enrollment. We all know that youngsters at the campuses all over the country are a prime target of illegal drugs traffickers.
Anyone who secures a driver’s license, including a student driver permit, must pass a valid drug test administered by a duly-accredited med-tech clinic. And, why not require drug test before anyone can secure a barangay clearance, police clearance and NBI clearance?
The point of making drug test compulsory for employment and enrollment is to stave off the continued proliferation of pernicious illegal drugs, which thrive on the lucrative market of drug abusers and addicts.
We must kill the market of illegal drugs as well as its sellers. Kill them all, like Manong Digong said.
