Daniel Berehulak, a photojournalist for The New York Times, traveled to the capital of the Philippines where he documented 57 homicides in just 35 days. Berehulak's graphic story, 'They Are Slaughtering Us Like Animals,' shows the events he witnessed during his time in Malina.

This past June, the people of the Philippines elected a new president, Rodrigo Duterte. Duterte's main focus of his presidency is to end the Philippines' war on drugs, by any violent means he deems appropriate. Extrajudicial murder is the killing of a person by governmental authorities without the sanction of any judicial proceeding or legal process. Duterte is essentially encouraging these murders at the hands of the police and the Davao Death Squad, an active vigilante group. From late June to early December, 1,715 people have been murdered for using, selling, and even as a mistake. These people are murdered in their homes in front of their families and murdered in the streets for all to see. Drugs make people weak but because of the threat to their lives, some Filipinos are standing up to their weaknesses and turning themselves in, but even then are sometimes murdered. Perhaps because there is an overcrowding issue in Filipino jails. These deaths are supposed to be investigated. Some are, but I can imagine that some are not as the rates are so high and the vigilantes are taking lives as well. 1,715 deaths is a lot to investigate in less than six months.

I understand the concept of pursuing proper consequences when a law is broken, and of course that's how it should be. But the issue with the Filipino drug war is that word proper. Where is the fair trial when police enters a home and shoots a man in the back of the head? I get and accept that people don't always cooperate and will run and retaliate when threatened by police, and in turn will be threatened, if not wounded or killed. But I refuse to believe that almost 2,000 people were killed because they didn't cooperate, and being an American, I don't think it is necessary or right to kill just because someone is an addict.

While I disagree with how the Filipino government is handling this situation, that's actually not my point in this ramble, at all.

I am by no means an expert on drug addiction. But I do understand that addiction is very real and not something to brush off. Drug addiction often swallows good people who may have had a very bright future ahead of them, but they made poor choices. I know so many people who got into drugs and just could not get themselves out. By no means am I an angel myself. I have tried a few things in my rebellious teen years, but I was never addicted to anything so I don't know personally what suffering with an addiction is like. I can only imagine the tremendous struggle between wanting to be a better person but slipping back into the same pattern when the drugs are always calling your name.

What I don't understand is how there are people in our country, addicted to drugs, who bitch and moan about our government and the laws in place regarding drugs. I have witnessed firsthand people who are angry about these laws and act on this anger, arguing how America would be such a better place if we diminished these laws. Well, news flash, these people don't know how good they have it, regardless if that is because the drugs have intercepted their thought processes or just because they are irrational individuals.

So a short, open letter to the American drug addicts bitching about our government -

Be thankful that today you are in America and not in the Philippines. Be thankful that our president isn't going to blow your head off just for using. You don't realize how lucky you are to be in America and that's a shame. This country has another world of problems but it still is one of the best countries in this world, regarding freedom and protection (Some may disagree with me on that statement even though there's so many other nations allowing for women to be property, don't have running water, or the First Amendment). Moral of the story, be thankful your government isn't trying to kill you because you like to smoke a little dope every now and then.

On a final note, I give major props to the journalist who wrote this story and witnessed these atrocities. You rock.