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