'Duterte has degraded the discourse so much it's become a matter of whether to kill or not' - Gideon Lasco on drugs and the Philippines

By André Gomes / TalkingDrugs

An academic by training, Gideon Lasco does not limit his career to producing journal articles and book chapters. Beyond academia, he is a published author, hosts a weekly opinion column, is a trustee of Centre for Sustainability and the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism.

Most recently, Lasco published his most recent book: “Drugs and Philippine Society”. Featuring 18 chapters of research, poetry, photographs and other recorded media, the book is a fantastic exploration into the role that drugs play within the nation.

Beyond being a critically incisive text, it has been published in a nation led by one of the most vocal opponents of a more tolerant approach to drugs and the people who use them. Rodrigo Duterte, the infamous president of the Philippines, has incentivised police killings of people who use drugs, and openly claimed responsibility for the murder of over 12,000 mostly urban poor Filipinos for their direct or indirect involvement with drugs. With presidential elections in May, Lasco’s Drugs and Philippine Society is a scathing indictment of Duterte’s authoritarian regime, and takes the first steps towards rethinking the future of drug policy in the Philippines and beyond.

Currently based in Mexico City, TalkingDrugs spoke with Lasco over Zoom in early 2022 on drugs, class, colonialism, COVID, and an imagined future for the Philippines. The conversation has been edited for brevity.