BNN: Collaboration Key to Tackling Stigma Against Drug Abusers

The National Narcotics Agency (BNN) has emphasised that the ongoing stigma against drug abusers remains a challenge that must be addressed through strengthened cross-sector collaboration, ensuring that prevention, rehabilitation, and eradication efforts can proceed in an integrated manner. BNN Chief Commissioner General Pol. Suyudi Ario Seto revealed that this stigma causes some members of the public to be reluctant to undergo rehabilitation. “Based on the 2025 National Survey on the Prevalence of Drug Abuse, the prevalence rate of drug abuse in Indonesia reached 2.11 percent, or around 4.15 million people,” he stated in Jakarta on Tuesday. He noted several forms of synergy that have been built with ministries and agencies, including the strengthening of the ANANDA BERSINAR programme with the Ministry of Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection, and the utilisation of data on vulnerable groups with the Ministry of Population and Family Development. According to him, these various collaborations are part of the transformation of the Prevention and Eradication of Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking (P4GN) approach, which is becoming more integrated and prevention-oriented. To discuss strengthening cross-ministerial synergy in P4GN efforts as a joint step to protect Indonesia’s young generation from the threat of drug abuse, the BNN Chief also met with the Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture, Pratikno, in Jakarta on Thursday (16/7). During the meeting, Suyudi, accompanied by the Deputy for Community Empowerment, the Acting Deputy for Prevention, the Acting Deputy for Rehabilitation, the Director of Law, and a Senior Administrator for Rehabilitation, presented various strategies for strengthening P4GN currently being implemented by the BNN. The meeting also discussed the increasingly complex modes of narcotics abuse, including drug abuse through electronic cigarettes. In response, Coordinating Minister Pratikno expressed his ministry’s readiness to coordinate the strengthening of cross-ministerial synergy, including policy discussions regarding the regulation of vapes or electronic cigarettes. He affirmed his commitment to continue synergising with the BNN in strengthening the implementation of P4GN, both through cross-ministerial coordination and the implementation of educational activities in various regions. This increasingly solid synergy is expected to strengthen the protection of the younger generation, creating a healthy, character-driven, productive, and drug-free Indonesian society.