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Monday, September 26, 2016

DOES ILLEGAL DRUG USE LEAD TO RAPE AND MURDER?



The President’s bleeding heart justifies the extra-judicial killings of suspected illegal drug retailers by saying that is a preemptive to prevention of women being raped, men being killed, and infants raped.
He even goes to the extent of threatening an equal branch of the government, the Supreme Court, with martial law. He went further to state that securing 60,000 warrants would take “forever”. The President forgets that the Supreme Court has the power to review any declaration of martial law under Article VIII, Section 18 of the 1987 Philippine Constitution.
The central question is whether it is factually correct that illegal drug use leads to “women being raped, men being killed, and infants raped”.
I decided to review the literature whether there is a correlation between illegal drug use, sexual assault, and homicide/murder.
There is not enough data on drug use and infant rape and therefore beyond the scope of this post.
Illegal Drug Use Leads to Rape
There are two aspects to the question.
1 – Does use of illegal drugs turn men into rapists?
In a story published on USA Today doctors and experts were quoted as stating that alcohol is the most common date rape drug – not marijuana or shabu. The notion that alcohol is a direct factor to rape is also disputed.
2009 survey of rapists enlisted in the US navy found that the vast majority of rapists – more than 70% – who admitted to rape said they did it because they thought they were entitled to women’s bodies.
Marijuana and shabu don’t fall in the category of date rape drugs either. The date rape drugs aren’t illegal – but legally available via prescription. These include sleeping aids, anxiety medication, muscle relaxers, and tranquilizers.
2 – Does use of illegal drugs make women more susceptible to rape?
People need to be reminded that rape only happens when there is a rapist. Even if a woman is drunk, if there is no rapist, then there is no rape. When you remove rapists from the equation – a woman can be drunk or high – and not get raped.
The answer therefore to the question of whether illegal drug use leads to rape is NO. The President is grossly misinformed on the matter.
Illegal Drug Use and Homicide/Murder
In a study of 1,887 convicted homicide offenders to discern the relationship between alcohol and/or drug use and murder, it was found that:
“About 50 percent of the offenders were under the influence of alcohol at the time of the crime, similar to the rate found by other studies. Substance use was more prevalent than nonuse before the homicide: 36 percent used alcohol only,13 percent used both alcohol and drugs, 7 percent used drugs only, and 43 percent did not use either. A heavier style of drinking is much more prevalent among homicide offenders than in the general population. Blacks showed the least involvement with alcohol before homicide. A direct role for alcohol is indicated by the finding that homicides were associated with a heavier than usual episode of drinking and the large mean alcohol consumption contiguous to the crime (9.3 ounces of alcohol or about 18 drinks). Evidence also indicates that a unique relationship existed between drug use and homicide.”
The publishers of the study interpreted that based on these there is a relationship between drug use and homicide.  I do not question the data, I question the interpretation because:
  • Majority of the murderers did not use alcohol  and/or drugs – 43%.
  • About 50 percent of the offenders were under the influence of alcohol at the time of the crime – can also be stated as 50 percent of the offenders were NOT under the influence of alcohol at the time of the crime.
  • Only 7% used drugs only
In the case of mass murders, the perpetrators weren’t on illegal drugs but were on legally available prescribed psychiatric drugs.
Conclusion
The President’s premise that illegal drug use causes women being raped, men being killed is wrong.
Today, men are being killed not because they overdosed on the illegal drugs  and:
  • jumped off a building, or;
  • stood dazed in the middle of a busy road to be run over by a vehicle, or;
  • drowned in the pool.
In the Philippines men are being killed with bullets, not drug use.

http://antipinoy.com/the-state/does-illegal-drug-use-lead-to-rape-and-murder/

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