18,500 children take drugs

18,500 children take drugs

JAKARTA: At least 18,500 schoolchildren are believed to use
drugs in Indonesia, a report said on Thursday quoting the head of
the National Narcotics Agency, Togar Sianipar.

"From that number, primary school students account for about
1,000, junior high school students around 7,500 and senior high
school students around 10,000," Sianipar was quoted by Antara as
saying on Wednesday.

Togar did not give the source of the statistics but said some
users were as young as seven.

He also acknowledged that law enforcement personnel were
acting as drug dealers or distributors.

Togar, who could not be reached for comment, said his agency
was planning to form branches at provincial and district levels
across the country, calling for a concerted attack against
narcotics and "high discipline" from all circles, especially law
enforcement officials.

Indonesia in the early 1980s was a mere stepping stone for
people engaged in the international narcotics trade. It has now
become a market in its own right.

President Megawati Soekarnoputri has expressed alarm at the
trend.

Sixteen people are on death row for drug trafficking -- 11
foreigners, four Indonesians and a Dutch citizen of Chinese-
Indonesian origin. --AFP