Ice palace escapade

The snow dusting this week of Changbaishan Nature Reserve, the mountain range with its crystal clear caldera lake that straddles the border between China and North Korea, reminds us of our attempt last year to scale the famous and still pristine (Westin and Sheraton hotels are scheduled to open shop in the neighborhood mid-2012) environs of this northeast China mountain range (Jangbaek to Koreans). The cold limited our mobility.

Eight months before, in our foray to the Yanbian region (Korea in China) and on to Mudanjiang (where Kim Jong Il/Yuri Irsenovich Kim’s private train often stops on its way to Beijing), we huddled into Harbin of the famous winter ice festival. Zhong Yang Da Jie (Central Street), aka Kitaiskaya to the Russians, is open only to pedestrian traffic and during the festival, impressive ice structures are built to snag the attention of a faithful global audience that trek to this part of Dong Bei this time of the year. Harbin was the Moscow of the East at the turn of the last century and the Byzantine architecture on Kitaiskaya, and the Sophia Cathedral, still fascinates Cyrillic script users. The lit ice palaces built outside the train station is a sight to behold!

But travelogue is not our concern in our thoughts of “ice palace.” We are rather stunned by the news that our ex-classroom buddy-teacher at SVES, Raymond Palacios, was indicted on charges of allegedly selling methamphetamine, aka “crystal meth,” “ice,” “glass,” “shabu,” etc. The drug is FDA approved medical treatment for ADHD and exogenous obesity (short term). It is effective for narcolepsy (a disorder of too much sleep). Otherwise, it is banned for recreational and other use, and that is where its commercial allure lies.

But first, Ray. Before he became the lower house’s chair on Education, Ray taught Chamorro to my sixth-grade students, teaching them songs. He even strummed a version of Pinoy Freddie Aguilar’s Asia-popular Anak, which immediately caught my fancy. When his steel guitar’s string broke on occasion, I let him use my musical instrument to aid his teaching. Before he became a legislator, Ray in my classroom was just another artist with unruly longish hair and nicotine-colored finger nails, strumming and crooning

Famagu’ on mangga’ chong-hu
Nihi ya ta faneskuela
Ya ta tungo’ todu siha
Ayo i manmafa’n gue-ta.

The news report that after his arraignment Ray came out smiling is par for the course with the laidback guy we knew some moons ago.

Now, a word on our familiarity with “meth.” Not much at the experiential level though, we will confess that we are not totally ignorant of its effects. We tried twice (yes, on Saipan) and we will not feign the WH “we-did-not-inhale” excuse. Crystal meth “increases alertness, energy, concentration, and in some dosage, may induce euphoria, enhance self-esteem and increase libido.” That’s not Park Ave. ad exaggeration!

The drug’s pedigree goes back to Japan when the common cold medicine ingredient ephedrine was synthesized, and when found to be an endurance pill, used by combatants of both sides during Word War II. It was used in the U.S. after the ’60s, especially among suburban ladies, to reduce appetite for weight loss. But for psychological side effects, addictive character, and the fear for the wider implication of frequent and massive use, it could easily be a miracle drug; instead, it is a Victorian victim of our propensity to criminalize what promises too much pleasure. Its wide popularity, however, did not wane.

With the commercialization of pleasure, and the promise of escape from the dread of ordinary existence to the waiting arms of paradise in our head-trips and libidos, it did not take long before meth took the fancy of the low-income segment of society. Thus, in the mid-’70s, in the impoverished communities in the central islands of the Philippines, we encountered the abuse of “shabu,” the crude homemade version of meth. Today, the country counts eight of every 100 of its citizens as users.

“I do not know of anyone-half of our public officials-who has not tried meth,” a PSS educator once confided, “and many of our colleagues in high places are still on it.” Ray Palacios is only the latest of a string of highly placed officials in the CNMI accused of leaving their fingerprints on the “ice” jar! My confidant’s statistics does not appear to be off target. The drug is garnish at the feast table of the glitterati.

In a culture where we pop a pill for the slightest discomfort of a cold and/or a headache, and ignore addiction to alcohol, caffeine, and nicotine, we are transmitting two conflicting images by criminalizing other drug use. There is no mystery that meth’s popularity, alarming among our young adult professionals, remains a real challenge for those who want to realistically deal with the situation, with the fundamental issue of life choices and responsible life style, rather than moralistic increase of budgetary allocation for the correction facilities, mostly reserved for those who cannot afford the habit and are caught in petty, though often violent, crimes.

For Ray, he has time to reflect. He owes himself that much!

Vergara is a regular contributor to the Saipan Tribune’s Opinion Section.