CRYSTAL METHAMPHETAMINE IN THE PHILIPPINES:

FROM APEX ILLEGAL DRUG TO APEX FAST-MOVING CONSUMER GOOD

Andrew C Bosworth, Ph.D.

aaabos@gmail.com

This manuscript did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public,
commercial, or not-for-profit sectors. All illustrations are original and can be used (fair
use). Comments welcome.
 Abstract
This paper describes how crystal methamphetamine is a drug whose synthetic nature combined
with its patterns of production, distribution, and consumption are unlike those of other illegal
drugs and can be characterized as those of a fast-moving consumer good (FMCG). The paper
then details how the features of FMCGs are seen in the Philippines, particularly in Manila, and
exhibit 1) frequent low-cost purchases, 2) rapid consumption, and 3) easy decision-making. In
fact, the paper argues that these features are maximized by crystal meth such that the drug has
become the fastest of the fast and a FMCG archetype. The paper also shows how crystal meth
was an actual FMCG in the 1950s and 1960s, and uses the theory of brand identity structure from
the marketing literature to show how and why many people in Southeast Asia have a dual
perception of the drug. The core identity of crystal meth is that of a military-issued battlefield
stimulant and a pharmaceutical product, and its extended identity is that of an illegal street drug,
thus producing cognitive dissonance. The paper concludes with four reasons for ending the war
on drugs: 1) it is unwinnable considering that the cartels operate on a scale of time and space
much larger than that of nation-states; 2) a vice that lacks both criminal intent and a clear victim
is not a crime; 3) wars on drugs change the relationship between the state and civil society such
that the state becomes predatory and parasitic; and 4) prohibition is irreconcilable with
consumerism, whose encouragement of instant gratification and addictive consumer behavior
steers human behavior into an ambush.
Key words: crystal methamphetamine, fast-moving consumer goods, FMCGs, globalization,
Southeast Asia, Philippines, Manila
Introduction

Crystal Methamphetamine dominates Southeast Asia as virtually the only drug on the illegal
market, especially in the Philippines, where it accounts for about 94% of all contraband drug
consumption. President Duterte’s war on drugs, the incarceration rates, the Philippine Supreme
Court rulings, and the controversy with the United Nations and the International Criminal Court
are all about one drug: crystal meth.

Meantime, what has gone entirely unnoticed is that crystal meth, besides being the apex street
drug, has also reached a second summit in the economic kingdom as the apex “fast-moving
consumer good” (FMCG). Lacking a barcode, shorn of deceptive packaging, and untouched by
the hands of advertising managers, methamphetamine outperforms because it is one of the few
items purchased on a daily basis.

In the Philippines, in a country of about 108 million people, the estimates of those who use (or
abuse) methamphetamine run from three to seven million, and most of those people purchase the
drug each and every day. For a manufacturer, this daily purchase zone is nirvana, and even soft-
drink companies, who have come so far to be so close, can only press their faces against the glass
and wonder what it’s like inside.

Crystal meth needs no advertising. There are no TV commercials pitching shabu. It sells itself. It
moves by itself, recalling Adam Smith’s classical economics when systems of forces had yet to
be replaced by systems of relations, and when intrinsic value alone propelled objects across the
commercial universe. Unlike heroin and opium, which are plant-based products that are local and
then go global, crystal meth is entirely synthetic and originates at the global level, with its
precursor chemicals coming from across East Asia and beyond.

Figure 1: The Synthetic Nature of Methamphetamine

Therefore, in terms of its production, methamphetamine is like powdered laundry detergent and,
true to form as a fast-moving consumer good, sold in compressed units of quantity, cost, and
time.

It’s Fast
Scholars have offered various overlapping definitions of fast-moving consumer goods, but if
they could all be distilled down to their essential qualities then a three-part definition emerges.
These three characteristics are as follows:
1. Frequent Low-Price Purchases
2. Rapid Consumption.
3. Easy Decision-Making.
Normally, such products fly off the shelves in days or weeks, as opposed to slow-moving goods
such as furniture and appliances.

Figure 2: The Cycle of Fast-Moving Consumer Goods

When the term “fast-moving consumer goods” appeared for the very first time (that I could find)
it was in the classified ads of The New York Times on Sunday, November 27, 1949. The job
posting was for a manager who was expected to be responsible for moving goods, and the
Madison Avenue company wanted a person who could do just that, move goods, but for goods
that were already fast moving.
 Figure 3: The Term’s First Appearance

Even though term “fast-moving consumer goods” appears to have debuted in the United States,
the American hemisphere now tends to use the term “consumer packaged goods” (CPGs), which
is unfortunate because it implies that consumers are the ones who are packaging the goods, when
they’re not. It’s also unfortunate because it suggests that the product is just sitting inside the
package, waiting to be used, and so the CPG model is static. In contrast, “fast-moving consumer
goods” implies that the consumption cycle is underway in all its glory, rendering the model
dynamic, even spirited. The FMCG research field is most active under India’s panoply of gods
and goddesses, pushing the world this way and that.

The exact moment cannot be pinpointed but it was sometime in the mid-1950s when American
industry – which by now was using more plastic, Styrofoam, and aerosol technology to
pressurize everything from cheese to furniture polish – reached a critical mass, a magical tipping
point, and it unleashed a kaleidoscopic swirl of consumer products from breakfast cereal to
toothpaste to methamphetamine.

Back in the 1950s and 1960s, methamphetamine was a legal stimulant and weight reducer. It did
not even rise to the level of a vice, to be frowned upon. It was just another fast-moving consumer
good, but one that happened to provide a sense of euphoria along with physical energy. The drug
also had a reputation as an aphrodisiac. A series of empirical studies have indeed found a strong
relationship between methamphetamine use and a spike in sexual desire, in libido, most
pronounced among heterosexual women. The drug, which already lowers social inhibitions, is
thought to stimulate that part of the brain associated with the reproductive imperative.
 Figure 4: Late 1950s Advertisements for Methamphetamine (colorized)

Methamphetamine was sold in mass markets around the world until 1970 when the US passed
the Controlled Substances Act and redefined it (rebranded it) as an illicit street drug. Back then,
the Philippine government took its cues from the US and so, without a drug scene of any
significance, Manila followed suit with the 1972 Dangerous Drugs Act and the Dangerous Drugs
Board.

Figure 5: Late 1950s Advertisement for Methamphetamine

Here, the “dangerous” aspect of methamphetamine refers to medical evidence that chronic users
often show heart problems, memory problems, premature aging, aggression and a myriad of
other symptoms. That being said, evidence also shows significant variation across nations and
individuals. Some chronic users of meth show physical and mental deterioration while others
manifest no negative symptoms.

Legal or illegal, it does not really matter. Once a FMCG always a FMCG. This is especially true
in East Asia where cultures have a longer memory and, consciously or not, remember the drug –
in part – as a battlefield stimulant and legal pharmaceutical product. Curiously, across of East
Asia, the more demonized drug is marijuana. Unlike crystal meth, which is typically used as a
workplace stimulant, marijuana is seen as making people lazy, unproductive, and anti-social. In
Southeast Asia there is even a Reefer Madness view in that one possible outcome of smoking the
weed is laughing oneself into insanity. This point emphasizes that in Southeast Asia, it is
marijuana, opium, and heroin that are seen as illegal street drugs while beliefs about crystal meth
are more complex and speak to what marketers try to avoid: a split personality.

From a marketing perspective, meth has a core identity and, after having been rebranded,
however inadvertently, an extended identity. The combination produces cognitive dissonance,
the kind of mental unease that comes with holding two mutually incompatible views
simultaneously. Rebranding is what happens when a product is changed somewhat, going from
Old Coke to New Coke for example, or when a product is declared to be “New and Improved,”
or when it is exported to a new market – or, for that matter, when it is suddenly declared to be an
illegal street drug. As marketers note, however, it difficult for the new to replace the old, for the
extended to replace the core. When there is dissonance, the core identity prevails.

Figure 6: A Brand’s Core and Extended Identity

The Cycle Quickens

Methamphetamine, as a fast-moving consumer good, is especially fast moving in the Philippines.

In Manila in particular, that cycle is turbo-charged: With its just-in-time delivery and rushed
consumption, the crystal meth cycle is accelerated both by popular demand and, somewhat
counterintuitively, by the product being illegal.

Figure 7: Risk Factors for Methamphetamine Abuse in Southeast Asia

Furthermore, the cycle is also accelerated by the Philippines having every conceivable risk factor
for substance abuse and then some, as shown in the figure above.

Frequent Low-Cost Purchases

The demand for crystal meth also has much to do with the Philippines boarding the consumerism
train, the wants-are-needs train, right after World War II and never stepping off. The country was
one of the first mass markets for Coca-Cola, for example, a universal symbol of the good life and
the mana, if you will, of Pax Americana.
Frequency of purchase has much to do with the drug’s potency. Originally, when the
methamphetamine market in the Philippines grew to a new scale in the late 1980s, the drug kept
people wide awake for an entire week. Those days were recalled by Gina, a woman from Manila
in her early 50s: “You cannot sleep for one week. You cannot eat. But you can work for one
week without sleeping.”

Gina continued to explain how “the formula” for crystal meth had changed such that the drug’s
effects were reduced to 12 hours and then eight hours and down to four hours. A parallel
development was that it was sold and purchased more often. This was a deliberate attempt, she
believed, to condition people to “buy and buy and buy.”

People no longer purchased shabu once or twice a week as a departure from their normal daily
routine; instead, they began purchasing smaller amounts of crystal meth and micro-dosing every
three or four hours. The entire methamphetamine market sped up such that today the drug is sold
in small, clear plastic packages and in increments of 500 pesos, which is about 10 US dollars.
Smaller amounts of shabu can be had in Manila’s low-income “squatter areas.”

Rapid Consumption

Fast-moving consumer goods tend to be consumed quickly, of course. In Manila, most users
smoke the drug within hours of purchasing it because it is simply not smart to leave something
lying around that can land a person in prison for a lifetime. As a result, it is common for two or
three people to burn through 500 pesos (10 USD) in one sitting and within minutes of its
purchase.

Figure 8: Aluminum Foil Delivery Method in the Philippines

Unlike their counterparts around the world, Filipinos rarely use glass pipes, which they call
tubibos. Their complaint is that the method wastes too much smoke and is too utilitarian, not
much fun, and so they use aluminum foil. When there are four or more people, especially
women, preparation becomes a kind of ritual.

First there is a “Bangka,” Tagalog for canoe, and it’s the narrow strip of aluminum upon which
the crystals are vaporized. A see-saw motion keeps the crystals moving so that the flame does
not burn a hole in the foil. This strip is called a “banana boat” in the US, with the use of
aluminum most noticeable in the rural South.

Second, a pen is disassembled and its ink tube is used to shape a straw, called a torotot, which is
Spanish for those horns blown at festivals. Third, there is a short and narrow tube, “the burner,”
which is affixed to a lighter and regulates its flame. Bangka, torotot, and burner– three words
from three languages, Tagalog, Spanish, and English.

Easy Decision-Making

In marketing, easy purchases or “low engagement” means that consumers don’t pause to mull
over whether or not to buy a product. Consumers don’t struggle with “intention to purchase” or
“intention to re-purchase.” They just buy the damn thing. According to estimates by the
Philippine government, the average meth user has been using the drug for six years. Therefore, it
is not much of a reach to claim that the decision to buy crystal meth today was actually made six
years ago.

Under the condition of easy decision-making, consumers also show little loyalty to specific
brands. At little or no cost to themselves, they readily jump from brand to brand, which in the
marketing literature is referred to as a situation of low consumer switching costs. Those who
research FMCGs, however, unlike the consumers they study, are intensely interest in brands, and
here “brand” can be defined as any “unique design, sign, symbol, words, or a combination of
these, employed in creating an image that identifies a product and differentiates it from its
competitors” (Business Dictionary, 2020).

Figure 9: Packaging Crystal Meth in Clear Packages

Sometime in the early 2000s, crystal meth in Manila stopped being sold in butcher paper and
came sealed the kind of clear plastic envelopes used to sell cheap earrings. At first glance, this
seems like the farthest thing from brand, but it’s not.

Packaging. The drug comes envelopes that are transparent, with no labels to deceive or
seduce. The consumer can immediately assess the drug’s quality and quantity.

Zone of Origin. Shabu, or a specific shipment of it, is usually associated with a

neighborhood. Rumor and reputation matter. In Manila, each neighborhood has its own
reputation for quality and purity.

The Dealer. The person responsible for the sale becomes part of the drug’s identity. The
values most respected are honesty, punctuality, and discretion.

In Manila’s meth market, most users do not rely on just one dealer and there is no brand loyalty.
Dealers are not always reachable, and some skimp on the product. If today’s 500-peso package
seems too small, then tomorrow the user texts another dealer until, a week after that, their
package also seems small, and it’s back to the first dealer or on to a third, no hard feelings. This
is a norm and enforced as such, preventing the kind of routine that gets noticed by neighbors or
police.

Conclusions and Reflections

To raise the question of drug prohibition in the Philippines brings the debate full circle. The
global war on drugs, formally launched in 1961 at the United Nations, really began after the
Spanish-American War of 1898 with American efforts to control the opium trade in the
Philippines.

The opium of yesteryear and the methamphetamine of today share a history, despite the former
being a depressant and the latter a stimulant. Chinese cartels (or mafias, syndicates, secret
societies) ran the opium trade back then just as they run methamphetamine trade today.

The Chinese cartels have a history going back more than four centuries and, embedded Chinese
ethnic communities, operate freely in the 11 countries of the Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
In other words, it is not as if these cartels are based in one country and extend to 11 others; it is
more a case of their geographic home spanning a dozen countries. This is why the war on drugs
has been unsuccessful in Southeast Asia, where government officials have had to settle for the
smallest of victories: the occasional high-profile arrest and perp walk, or the occasional photo-op
of a shipping container being pried open and its contents revealed.
 Figure 10: Map of the Chinese Diaspora in Southeast Asia

Simply put, the Chinese cartels operate on a scale of time and space that dwarfs any nation state;
as a result, national and inter-governmental efforts to control the methamphetamine trade have
been, are, and will be futile. That fact underlies the first reason for ending drug prohibition.
Maintaining an unwinnable “war on drugs” is the height of folly.

The second argument here is that a vice is not a crime. Drug use (or abuse) lacks 1) criminal
intent and 2) a clear and direct victim. Without criminal intent or a victim, the only real crime
being committed is the violation of natural law by the arresting officer, the judge, and the
warden. The criminalization of vice, which entails the jailing of a person without criminal intent
or the existence of a victim, represents a human rights violation no matter where it happens.

The third argument is that wars on drugs are unfair and unjust, disproportionately affecting the
poor. However, what few people notice is that such wars – especially in the Philippines – distort
the relationship between the state and civil society such that it becomes predatory and parasitic.

In the first phase, the executive branch and law enforcement behave as predators, intruding upon
the private sphere, entering homes, jailing users and dealers, and even killing (hunting, or
poaching) small-time street dealers. In the second phase, police precincts, barangays, and a
portion of the criminal justice system become accustomed to the monetary benefit of the war on
drugs, receiving federal funds, bail bonds, fines, and other forms of revenue related to the so-
called crime. In the process, these entities develop a relationship with civil society that can only
be compared to the one between parasite and host.
A fourth and original argument for drug prohibition, which is to be elaborated in a future paper,
is that it is irreconcilable with a consumerism. The dominant economic narrative of instant and
immediate gratification contradicts drug prohibition because the combination of paradigms
results in a mixed message: buy this, but don’t buy that. Furthermore, marketers and advertisers
do not reinforce consumer behavior that is rational; instead, they reinforce consumer behavior
that is addictive. Considering the plasticity of human behavior, this represents a set-up, an
ambush.

The underlying problems in Southeast Asia, the Philippines, and Manila are those of rapid
urbanization and top-down, pell-mell globalization: social dislocation, job insecurity, wealth
disparity, and political marginalization. Drug prohibition, it seems, may even be designed to
distract people from problems for which national governments have no answers.

Meantime, crystal methamphetamine in the Philippines will continue to maximize the attributes
of a fast-moving consumer good so much so that this drug, shabu, despite being illicit, may be
the closest thing that there is to an archetype of a fast-moving good, taking a form that slower
products can only mimic.

Andrew C Bosworth, Ph.D.

aaabos@gmail.com
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