People & Power report on the staggering use of 'shabu' in the Philippines, a pure and potent form of speed.

Also known as Methamphetamine Hydrochloride and 'ice', shabu is being used at crisis levels.

Official figures say there are now more than seven million users in the country. In recent years it has become widespread in the nation's poorest slums.

An addictive stimulant that often induces paranoia and violence, the use of shabu is creating a major health and social crisis - and a serious criminal underclass.

What has made the problem worse in recent years is the new local market. Chinese drug lords who used to export from China now manufacture right in the Philippines, making it a convenient transit point for supply throughout Asia.

Filmmaker Martin Butler secures access to some of the worst shabu dens in the country's slums and speaks to the users and communities it has impacted the most.

Watch part 1 of Shabu here:

 Watch part 2 of Shabu here:

This episode of People & Power aired from Sunday, November 18, 2007 at the following times GMT:
Sunday: 14:30
Monday: 01:30 and 13.30
Tuesday: 06:30 and 20.30

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