War on drugs must be joint effort: Seminar<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The government, law enforcers and the public
\nmust be enlisted in the war on drugs or efforts to eradicate the
\ncountry's growing drug problem will be doomed to failure,
\nspeakers and participants in a seminar on drug addiction
\nconcluded on Monday.<\/p>\n
They urged the central government to immediately implement a
\nnationwide campaign against illegal drug use.<\/p>\n
Among the measures they recommended was for custom officials
\nat the country's international airports and seaports to strictly
\ncontrol the flow of goods entering from particular countries.<\/p>\n
"The media also should also be careful in running reports and
\npictures of drug-related cases," said participant Faisal from a
\ndrug rehabilitation center whose son was once an addict.<\/p>\n
Other participants and speakers in the one-day seminar
\nsponsored by Kompas daily at Bentara Budaya arts center in
\nCentral Jakarta also agreed with the recommendation that the
\ngovernment establish an independent police drug unit, whose
\nmembers could include civilians.<\/p>\n
They also condemned the involvement of police and military
\nofficers in drugs, including dealing, and said it must stopped.<\/p>\n
"I have evidence that certain police personnel have sold the
\ndrugs they confiscated from their raids. That's why the price of
\ndrugs always drops after the police conduct their raids," said
\nentertainer Connie Constantia, who has a son who was addicted.<\/p>\n
Titled "The Disaster of Drug Addicts", the seminar presented
\nConnie, lawyer Henry Yosodiningrat, social therapist Ong Leong
\nWah from Malaysia and several operators of drug rehabilitation
\ncenters as speaker.<\/p>\n
The seminar also touched on the growing prevalence of
\ncitizen's arrests of suspected drug dealers and users, which have
\nat times resulted in violence.<\/p>\n
"Drug dealers, if proven, deserve to be destroyed," Henry,
\nwhose son continues to battle a drug problem, said angrily.<\/p>\n
But a school principal stood up and told the lawyer that
\nviolence was not the solution.<\/p>\n
"Please... we don't have to kill the drug dealers. What if
\nthe dealers were your own children?"<\/p>\n
Henry remained silent.<\/p>\n
Dirty tricks<\/p>\n
According to the lawyer, he has started arresting suspected
\ndrug addicts and dealers before handing them over to the police.<\/p>\n
He said the action was justified because dealers used "dirty
\nways" to get adolescents hooked on drugs.<\/p>\n
"You know how many youths from the poor families can get drugs
\nfor free? How? Once the poor kids are addicted, they become great
\nbrokers for the dealers who don't need to pay out much in their
\nwork," Henry said.<\/p>\n
"As long as the kids could get drugs for their own needs, it
\nis more than enough for them."<\/p>\n
He said the government should stop heavy funding of its drug
\nprevention bodies because their efforts proved useless.<\/p>\n
"They deserve to be closed. Everybody can see that the number
\nof addicts has grown rapidly as has drug distribution."<\/p>\n
Joyce Djaelani Gordon from Harapan Permata Hati Kita center
\nfor addiction treatment and recovery, and senior researcher
\nIrwanto of Center for Societal Development Studies of Atmajaya
\nUniversity said the involvement of many "important people"
\nobstructed the efforts to fight drugs.<\/p>\n
"That's why the drug problem can't be stopped only through the
\nmatter of law, which is not effective here," Irwanto said.<\/p>\n
Many Jakartans have been stunned at reports of drug
\ndistribution in elementary schools in slum areas, with dealers
\nreportedly threatening the children not to tell their parents.<\/p>\n
Data from the hospital for drug dependency patients (RSKO)
\nshowed the city has about 130,000 drug addicts.<\/p>\n
Irwanto believed the actual number could reach one-tenth of
\nthe city's 10 million population.<\/p>\n
Henry and Connie told of their harrowing experiences in trying
\nto cure their children of drug addiction.<\/p>\n
"My second son was influenced four years ago when he was 16
\nyears old," Henry said. "I have tried my best -- from gentle
\nwords to slaps -- to help him beat his addiction, but it has all
\nbeen in vain."<\/p>\n
Henry said he enrolled his son in several famous drug
\ntreatment centers, including the Gontor Islamic boarding school,
\nand enlisted him in the Marines.<\/p>\n
"But it was only effective for about six months before he went
\nback to his addiction."<\/p>\n
His son is now in the Yayasan Pengasih treatment center.<\/p>\n
Connie said physical punishment did not cure her son of his
\naddiction.<\/p>\n
"At the time, beatings or any kind of harsh action could not
\nstop him from his drug use until we tried the religious
\napproach."<\/p>\n
She said her son was now cured and preparing to enter the
\nclergy. (ind\/bsr)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/war-on-drugs-must-be-joint-effort-seminar-1447893297",
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