Antidrug campaign targets students
Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
In a move to tackle the alarming increase in drug abuse among students, a team of doctors of city-owned Duren Sawit Hospital in East Jakarta held on Monday an impromptu urine test for students of State High School (SMU) 4 on Jl. Batu 3, Central Jakarta.
"The urine test is meant to screen those students who have been misusing drugs, but the result of the test won't carry any legal or administrative penalties for students with positive results," said program chairman Nur Seto.
Nur asserted that students who tested positive had to be considered as victims, rather than criminals.
The test results would be given directly to the school, which would then contact the respective parents.
"We'll leave the follow-up to school authorities and parents. But, of course, we'll recommend treatment," said Nur.
Nur said similar impromptu urine tests would be conducted at three other high schools in the city over the next two weeks.
The team of doctors conducted tests for over 230 students at SMU 4.
Headmaster La Ode Fudjudu said that a consensus had been made between the school and parents that students who tested positive would not be expelled.
"That's why we're conducting the urine test for first-year students, who are mostly below the age of 18, so that they are provided a more educational approach rather than a legal approach by penalizing them," La Ode said.
Reports said that the rate of drug abuse among students had reached an alarming level, and that it had even affected elementary school students.
City police said earlier last month that 30 elementary school students had been arrested for drug abuse in the first five months of this year.
Antidrug foundation Yayasan Cinta Anak Bangsa (YCAB) reported last year that eight out of every 100 students in a survey conducted from 2000 to 2002 involving thousands of students from 11 cities across the country admitted they had experimented with drugs.
The latest official report about drug abuse in schools from the Ministry of National Education spanning the period between 1999 to 2000 showed that a total of 1,015 students from 166 high schools in Jakarta took drugs. Of the total, 315 students had been expelled from their schools because they were also dealing drugs.
Another YCAB survey showed that once a person became addicted, it was difficult for them to get off of drugs, and that around 90 percent of addicts who have gone through rehabilitation relapse.
Dr. Agus Solichien, a neurologist who was part of the testing team on Monday, explained that drug rehabilitation did not come cheap.
A drug addict, Agus said, must undergo at least six months of intensive treatment to kick the habit at a fee of Rp 3 million each month (US$365), or at least Rp 18 million, exclusive of other related fees such as a detoxification fee.