Community effort needed to battle drugs

JAKARTA (JP): Parents beware. If you find many used lighters in your child's room, you have a reason to be suspicious. He or she might be a drug user.

"My son used a lighter to burn heroin so that he could inhale the smoke," lawyer Henry Yosodiningrat said.

His son, Ade, would put the drug on tin foil and heat it over a flame. The smoke was inhaled using a rolled bank note.

Others use a more sophisticated tool, called a bong, which is made from a bottle, usually a mineral water or a perfume bottle, according to actress Unique Priscilla. An antidrug activist, she could not hide her disgust as she said that such tools were sold in a shopping mall in Bandung.

Priscilla and Yosodiningrat were taking part in a talk on drugs, organized by the Bintaro community in Pondok Aren, Tangerang, on Sunday in the wake of the alarming rise in drug cases. The event was held to increase people's awareness of the dangers of drugs so that they would take an active part in the war against them.

Yosodiningrat called upon people to set up an antidrug post and join with the other members of the neighborhood in order to combat drug abuse in their area.

"We can't rely on the police. The National Police have only some 30 narcotics police detectives, while the number of drug users now is about 1.7 million. Everyday two people die because of drugs," he said. He added that there are even some members of the Armed Forces who use or traffic drugs.

"We, the community, must be tough with drug dealers. If you inform the police about suspects and there is no response, you'd better take care of them by yourselves. If they (the dealers) terrorize you, don't be afraid, work together and face them," he said emotionally while the audience clapped in approval.

"Street justice is here and I am ready to take the risk," he said.

Even though street justice is against the law, many people share Yosodiningrat's view. Recently there were reports about people who conducted raids against drug dealers in their neighborhood. Some did it without the police's presence. In some cases, the crowds even burned down the place where the drug transactions allegedly occurred. The last case reportedly happened on Saturday when an angry mob set ablaze a cafe on Jl. Supratman in Pondok Ranji, Tangerang. So far, there have not been any reports about any legal action taken against the mob.

Yosodiningrat related how the authorities' incapability in handling drug cases has made people feel frustrated. Drugs are easily found -- if you know how to get them -- while the traders seem to be untouchable. In some cases, the police even set free the traffickers because of the lack of evidence.

But what made him frustrated is the fact that his son, Ade, was also a drug addict. He has made every effort to cure his son. First, he sent Ade to a Muslim boarding house. And when that did not work, Yosodiningrat enrolled his son in the Marines and Ade was there for six months. When he returned home his father was proud of him. The 183-cm son was more firmly built, had a positive outlook on life, and looked just like other healthy young people. Yosodiningrat was delighted, until one day when Ade was ill. His eyes were red and watery. Fluids streamed from his nose as if he had a bad flu. When the father wanted to take Ade to the doctor, he could not find him in the house.

"Moments later he showed up, he said he had just had sop kambing (lamb soup), which made him felt much better," Yosodiningrat said. Ade was not entirely wrong. He felt better because he had just taken heroin. He still could not shake the habit.

Ade is now in Malaysia taking part in a recovery program.

All addicts have something in common. "They are liars," Yosodiningrat said. Yet, he still loves his son as he is aware that Ade needs it even more at this time.

He added that those in the lower income bracket are most easily involved in the drug trafficking network as they need quick money to get the money to buy more drugs.

It takes quite a long time to recover totally from addiction. A theory says that if one fails to avoid drugs for a period of 1,000 days, it is unlikely that he or she would be able to recover.

If they are not strong enough, it would be hard for them to recover because the memory about what they have done could lead them back to the addiction. That's why Priscilla is not interested in making a sinetron (TV film) about the danger of drugs, as suggested by a resident who attended the talk.

"But such films are okay as a form of prevention for the audience who do not use drugs," she said. (sim)