Health experts promote drug recovery

JAKARTA (JP): The group of high school students sat on the floor near the entrance of the hospital. They chatted, laughed and once in a while some of them puffed on their cigarettes. The youngsters were all clad in their white-and-gray uniforms and carried their school bags. It is about 10 a.m. on Wednesday, a time when they are supposed to be in class, so why were they in the hospital, when none of them looked sick?

"We are here to ask for a letter to clarify that we don't use drugs," one of them said.

The hospital they were visiting is the Drug Dependency Hospital, located in the compound of Fatmawati Hospital in Central Jakarta.

"Our teacher suspects that we use drugs. Therefore we must get the letter. Otherwise, we will be expelled from school," another student said.

Drugs in schools are not an uncommon occurrence. They are easy to obtain; with Rp 10,000 or Rp 15,000 you can get a small package of putauw (low-grade heroin) that is enough to make you high, the student said with a laugh.

She admitted that she used to take putauw, but stopped the habit because she did not want to drop out from school.

At the hospital, the students had their urine tested. If the result was negative, they would get the paper saying that they were free from drugs.

Such a piece of paper might be effective in preventing people from taking drugs, but only temporarily.

According to Dr. Sudirman, the hospital director, the result would be positive if one took heroine a week before the test. If one takes ganja (marijuana), the result would be positive if the user had had the drug in the month before the test.

Not taking drugs for a week, a month or even a year does not guarantee that one would not take them again.

Dr. Sudirman said that former users are expected to abandon drugs for good if they are able to stop using their drug of addiction within a period of a 1,000 days.

"If they do not use the drug for 1,000 days, we could expect them to be totally recovered. But if during the period they are tempted to take the drug, it is likely that the recovery process will take a longer time," he said.

Why do people take drugs?

Dr. Sudirman said that according to the popular psychic health theory, there are three factors: the biological organ, the psycho-educative factor and the sociocultural environment.

"Even though your environment stimulates you to take drugs, if you have a strong biological organ, if you have a good brain, you won't be influenced. But if you cannot think clearly, if you cannot make the decision based on careful consideration, you will be influenced.

"This also depends on the psycho-educative factor which shapes the patient, how he or she responds to the stimulant. If the patient has a weak psycho-educative factor, she or he will have a weak personality and will be easily influenced by the environment," he said.

Another theory, based on the public health view, says there must be three factors in drug abuse: the hostess or the user, the agent or the substance and the environment.

In reality, however, Dr. Sudirman finds that the most common reason that make people take drugs is "the adventure of young people".

"Young people are in a critical situation. They are in the process of changing from a child to an adult. Many of them have a weak mentality and are easily influenced by the environment," he explained.

Indonesia has reportedly 1.3 million drug abusers and addicts, mostly young people. Even though the government has on many occasions declared a war against drugs, the problem remains.

"It is quite a serious problem. There are a growing number of drug users, as reflected in the number of patients visiting hospitals or doctors," said Dr. Sudirman.

In 1996, the Drug Dependency Hospital recorded more than 1,500 visits; the number increased to 3,500 in the following year. In 1998 it was over 5,000, and as of September of this year, it had recorded a bigger number -- about 6,000.

"Drug users are not criminals. We must not treat them like criminals," said Dr. Sudirman, who learned a lot from Malaysia, where drug abusers are regarded as people who need love and care rather than punishment and rejection.

Unfortunately, not all understand this philosophy. Which explains why many schools expel students who are found using drugs, he said.

Dr. Sudirman said that most of his patients do not have to stay in the hospital. They pay frequent visits, once every week or two, for the treatment.

"We check their condition and see if they make improvements, we also check whether they have strong intentions of giving up the drugs, how their family supports them, etc. We also give them counseling.

"If the patients have been using the drugs for years, we suggest that they stay here for detoxification to clean the toxins which have been accumulating in their body."

That process takes from one week to two weeks. The treatment does not end with the detoxification. Physically they are fine, but there are still other problems, that is the psychological and social factors.

A process of stabilization is needed. They must be prepared to come back to society. This process covers two things: medical rehabilitation and social rehabilitation.

The hospital deals with the medical rehabilitation and pre- social rehabilitation. The rest is handled by rehabilitation centers.

Dr. Sudirman said that due to the high demand, there were growing numbers of rehabilitation centers.

"We have dozens of such centers in Jakarta and hundreds of others throughout the country," he said.

Some Muslim boarding houses run programs to help drug addicts. There are also many non-governmental organizations and individuals, including ex-addicts or their families, who run recovery centers. Among them are Yayasan Harapan Permata Hati Kita, Yayasan Respati and Wisma Adiksi.

Dr. Sudirman, the husband of senior TVRI presenter Tengku Malinda, said that the Drug Dependency Hospital, established in 1969, was initially a foundation. It was developed into a hospital in 1972. The 1,300-square-meter hospital has a capacity of 38 beds.

Due to growing demands for its services, there are plans to build a new hospital on a 13,000-square-meter plot in Cibubur, East Jakarta.

"We have acquired the land and the master plan is ready," he said, adding that the project was jointly handled by the Ministry of Health and the City administration. (sim)