Drugs available everywhere for youths

Dewi Santoso, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

For almost two years, Handro (not his real name) has been clean from drugs and stayed away from his drug-addict friends.

But two years ago, life was very different.

"I was a naughty kid. I started using drugs when I was in my second year of junior high," said the teenager.

His first "encounter with the devil" was purely the result of peer-group pressure. He was just 14 then.

"I went to my friend's house, and his brother was smoking pot. He asked me if I wanted to try it. I said no. He told me I was a chicken, so I said okay," he recalled.

He liked the drug straight away and quickly formed a habit.

"I felt good. I felt I was flying, you know," he said, extending both his arms to mimic an airborne plane.

In the days that followed Handro was often stoned.

"I couldn't stop as it was easy to get the stuff at my school. They had this kind of mafia at the school, selling drugs. I bought one gram of it for around Rp 50,000 (US$5.88) to Rp 100,000 from my seniors," he said, adding that price by now had probably doubled.

Curious, he decided to try something new and injected drugs into his blood, sharing the syringe with three of his friends. But he admits he felt uncomfortable and stopped the experiment.

"There was a time that I knew it was all wrong. But I was in too deep, so I just kept going," he told The Jakarta Post.

For three years, Handro tried everything he was offered, including lysergic acid diethylamide (also known as LSD), low- grade heroin and crystal methamphetamine before his parents finally discovered his addiction to drugs.

"I was in my room, partying with three people. But it was only in my mind, the fact was I was smoking heroin alone. My sister was a bit curious when she saw smoke coming out from my room. So she opened the door, and found me lying on the bed unconscious," he recounted.

His parents then took him to China where they stayed for two months.

"I didn't go to a rehab(ilitation) center. I just stayed alone with my parents in a small country house. The first time my body shook heavily as it (was in effect) asking for drugs, my parents threw me into a swimming pool. Then, they immediately brought me out and wrapped my body in a hot towel," he said.

When he finally did overcome his addiction, his parents brought him back home to finish his final year of senior high school.

For Handro and his parents, their time in China was time well spent.

"Since arriving back home, I gave up everything connected to my addiction, including my friends who had first introduced me to drugs. I didn't want to die like my friends," he said.

Two of his friends had died of a drug overdose (OD) and one had bled to death from a ruptured vein.

Handro's story confirms what others say, that youths here are able to buy drugs easily, and are becoming more vulnerable to addiction.

Data from the National Narcotics Board (BNN) reveals that by September this year, the National Police had already arrested 5,081 people on charges related to drug dealing, 24 were teenagers below the age of 16. In 2002, the number was 5,310.

"Since the data was collected before September, we're afraid the number of cases will increase this year," BNN's executive director Comr. Gen. Togar Sianipar told the Post.

The last two major cases reported were in the Banten city of Tangerang, where seven people were arrested and drugs, worth Rp 11.7 billion (US$1.3 million), burned. In Soekanro-Hatta Airport, 13.7 kilograms of cocaine was found and a suspect arrested later on Sumbawa Island.

Togar admitted that the police had encountered difficulties in controlling the problem.

BNN, he said, is struggling to reduce both the supply and demand of drugs.

He said, the police had been deployed to detect drug trafficking at all Indonesia's seaports and airports and arrest those responsible.

"But it's getting more and more difficult. Our country consists of thousands of islands, making it very easy for people to come in and come out. It isn't easy to keep track of them all as our ports are overcrowded. The police cannot afford to hone in on one person and read their body language," he said.

"Moreover, drugs manufacturers are shifting from mass production to home industry. So it's getting harder to detect and arrest those involved," said Togar.

The biggest obstacle now, is that Indonesia has changed from being just a transit center for drug dealers, to a main destination where the demand from drug users is high.

BNN has been intensifying its campaign titled "Say no to drugs" in schools and public places.

"We provide the public with information on the dangers of drugs, including the risk of being infected with Hepatitis B and HIV/AIDS among injecting drug users (IDU)," he said.

Togar said he was concerned that teenagers nowadays were facing more difficulties as peer-group pressure in schools was getting stronger.

"These days, teenagers experience strong peer pressure. Because they don't want to be called a chicken, they just accept the offer (of drugs) from their peers without realizing the danger of it," he said.

He called on parents to share the burden of teachers as educators, as they were the ones who could provide teenagers with more information on the dangers of drugs.

"But you know how teachers are these days. Some even deal drugs as they claim their salaries are inadequate," he said.

As for Handro, he said he was glad he had been freed from the powerful shackles of drug addiction.

When asked if he regretted his past behavior, he said, "I don't think I regret it. No matter how bad it was, I see it as another experience that will enrich my life. It will teach me to make better judgments in the future."