Antidrug program targets schools

Antidrug program targets schools

JAKARTA (JP): Executives of the Bersama antidrug non-
governmental organization (NGO) have met with City Council
representatives to discuss the launch of an anti-narcotics
campaign here.

Bersama chairman Putera Astaman said at Wednesday's meeting
that the campaign was aimed at building awareness among local
youths of the danger of drug abuse.

The antidrug campaign will visit all city schools, from
elementary to senior high, Astaman, a retired police major
general, said.

Mochammad Amman, the chief of Bersama's working group
division, said: "We haven't decided the exact date to launch the
campaign but we hope that it will start this year."

Amman highlighted the importance of children knowing the
danger of drugs and alcohol abuse in their early years.

"If they are anti-narcotics from childhood it will be easier
to prevent them from abusing drugs later," he said.

Bersama, established in 1978, is the only organization
appointed by the government to coordinate all antidrug campaigns
in Indonesia.

The organization is a member of the International Federation
of NGOs which has links to the UN's World Health Organization,
the International Labor Organization and UNESCO.

President Soeharto is the patron of Bersama and several
cabinet ministers are among its advisory board members.

Amman also underlined the need for the school students
organization, OSIS, to participate in the campaign.

"A lack of school attention to this issue can foster the
problems of drug abuse," he said. (07/bsr)