Activists call on govt, military help in drug war

JAKARTA (JP): Efforts to eradicate the country's drug trade will prove futile if the government fails to demonstrate the political will to battle drugs and the military and police are not involved in the campaign, activists said on Saturday.

Former drug addict Abdillah and Pelita Ilmu Foundation chairman Zubairi Djoerban said that because the drug trade was such a large problem and involved organized crime networks, the local government was unable to eradicate drugs on its own.

Abdillah, who now works with street children and slum residents, said that without the involvement of the military and the police, efforts to battle drugs would fail to produce results.

"Military and police personnel must speak up because they are the ones who know so much about the drug business. Some of them are even involved in the business," he said after speaking at a discussion on children and drugs at the Pelita Ilmu Foundation, which focuses on Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome awareness and prevention.

Abdillah, a father of one who was a drug addict for nine years, said most people involved in producing and selling drugs acknowledged the backing of military or police personnel.

He also said he understood the public's perception that the government and the military were unwilling to put an end to the drug trade.

"For example, in certain alleys in Senen, Central Jakarta, producers of Nipam, a low-grade heroin in pill form, and drug pushers are seen everywhere. It's impossible that police officers don't know, but no steps have yet been taken to clean up this area," he said.

The involvement of military and police personnel in the drug trade has long been rumored, and these rumors were recently validated with the arrest of Second Lt. Agus Ishok, the son of Army Chief of Staff Gen. Subagyo Hadisiswoyo, for possession of a large quantity of drugs.

Jakarta has also seen the spread of drugs to elementary schools, with students being given drugs and told they are candy or "smart pills".

Zubairi said the recent explosion in the sale and use of drugs should make it clear to the government the urgency of the battle against the drug trade.

"It is up to the government to decide whether (fighting) the drug trade is something important for the country," he said.

He said fighting drugs at the local government level was not enough, and instead required a nationwide movement.

Zubairi also said if the use of drugs continued to grow, the number of people infected with HIV/AIDS would increase.

"It has been proven in the United States that it is easier to become infected with HIV by injecting narcotics than through sexual intercourse," he said.

Data shows that as of January 1996, 183,359 Americans were infected with HIV through the needles they used to inject narcotics, he said.

Zubairi, who is also a medical doctor, said he currently treated five HIV positive patients who were drug addicts.(ind)