The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) has revealed the profile of drug pushers and substance abusers in the country.

Undersecretary Arturo Cacdac Jr., PDEA director general, bared the updates based on the demographic profile done by the agency and the Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB) on arrested street level-pushers and users who were admitted in government rehabilitation facilities.

According to the drawn profile, street-level pushers, whose average ages are 29, have poor educational background and were unable to finish high school. Most of the arrested personalities were married. The ratio of male to female among the persons apprehended for selling illegal drugs is six to one.

Cacdac said that 73 percent of arrested drug offenders had pushed methamphetamine hydrochloride, popularly known as shabu, while 26 percent constituted marijuana sellers; and ecstasy at one percent.

“Majority of drug dependents in the country are poly-drug users, which means they abuse multiple types of dangerous drugs. Shabu is still the drug of choice among 62 percent of admitted users. At the same time, 35 percent are using marijuana and 3 percent used other drugs,” Cacdac added, citing the statistical chart obtained from the DDB.

The age group of drug dependents varies from 20 to 29, 57 percent of them were single. The male drug users outnumbered the females nine to one. “The average length of drug use among dependents prior to rehabilitation is usually six years,” he said.

The illicit drug market in the Philippines has thrived in a so-called “sachet economy” where regular drug users only consume an average of 0.04 gram of shabu per session in a twice a week use.

“From January to October 2012, PDEA has arrested a total of 5,025 drug pushers and 1,850 substance abusers nationwide. We are continuously intensifying our anti-illegal drug operations to neutralize sources of illegal drugs, and at the same time strengthening our anti-drug advocacy campaigns,” the PDEA chief concluded.