At least 21 people have been sentenced to death in drug cases since the government implemented Laws No. 22/1997 on narcotics and 5/1997 on psychotropic substances, yet drug abuse continues unabated here. The Jakarta Post talked to some city residents on the issue:

Mi'ing, 27, lives in Tebet, South Jakarta and works for a private company. He is single:

The death sentence for drug traffickers is just part of a game played out between drug dealers and the police. I'm sure the high-profile drug dealers are almost untouchable by the law as they regularly hand over huge sums of money for "security services" provided by high-ranking police officers.

I speak from personal experience because I was once a small- time drug dealer and a regular user for almost four years. I was pretty well addicted to any kind of drug available at the time.

In this case, both parties -- the police and drug dealers -- have an agreed deal. The police usually establish a rule not to arrest the dealers while the dealers may operate carefully, but without hindrance.

Police drug raids are usually also part of the scenario. The high-caliber dealers deliberately victimize some of the lower- ranking operators within their network, to create a good impression with the public. The dealers, on the one hand, want to assist the police to improve their image. On the other, they also reconfirm who's boss within their established networks.

The arrested people are usually set free after spending a few months in jail after their bosses have paid the police for their freedom.

I agree completely with the death penalty, particularly for high-profile producers or dealers. However, I regret to say that I'm too pessimistic that drug-related cases will be dealt with in any meaningful way as long as collusion between dealers and law enforcers continues.

Veronica, 30, is an activist who has campaigned against drugs for almost four years. She lives in Kebon Jeruk, West Jakarta, with her husband and three children:

I guess the death sentence is no big deal. Convicts on death row simply fill the prisons because the legal processing for their execution takes so long.

The death sentence, if I may say so, doesn't have any significant effect on drug trafficking in the country. A survey revealed that in Jakarta about 12 percent of youngsters aged 12 to 19 had admitted to experimenting with drugs at least once.

Perhaps in Jakarta high-profile drug dealers are much smarter at bribing law enforcers so that they remain free to operate here. I reckon this is quite difficult to deal with as it is perceived as a crime organized on a worldwide basis.

Worse still, I cannot deny that there are also law enforcers who are corrupt, partly because they need the bribe money so badly.

Drug trafficking and abuse is not simply a crime related to supply and demand, for it is also a social problem for which we must all be held responsible.

The economic slump years ago forced many people to turn to lucrative businesses like this. They don't need to work very hard to earn a living as within a day they can make an immense amount of money.

However, I agree with the death sentence on condition that the execution is actually carried out.

Nggono, 31, is a sailor who lives in Depok. He used to be a drug addict for years:

I think the death sentence is a good idea. But I also believe that the tougher the punishment, the smarter the drug dealers will become in the running of their businesses.

I guess the drug problem is very complex and will continue to linger because many are in dire need of drugs, either for their own use or for dealing. Worse still, there are many police or military officers around who back the dealers.

It would be a waste of time to crack down on producers, traffickers or users for as long as the public continues to remain ignorant about this problem.

The death sentence for high-caliber drug dealers is a good step for law enforcers in their effort to build trust with the public. But it does not guarantee the eradication of drug-related cases.

Regrettably, it's hard to implement such a policy because money still has the power to buy a verdict or set free the defendants. The bigger the dealers, the more money they have to bribe law enforcers.

A friend once told me that a middle-ranking drug dealer could easily pay more than Rp 100 million in cash to avoid legal processing.

-- Leo Wahyudi S