'Holland misunderstood on Ecstasy'
SERANG, West Java (JP): Dutch Minister of Health, Welfare and Sports E. Borst-Eilers says many Indonesians mistakenly cite Holland as a manufacturing source of Ecstasy, the drug which has become the cause of much concern in Indonesia.
Borst said here on Tuesday that Ecstasy is a dangerous drug and that it is strictly forbidden to possess it or produce it in the Netherlands.
She added that Dutch police are actively attempting to apprehend local makers of Ecstasy, also known as MDMA.
"It's not allowed to process it in my country. It's an illegal drug. It is also illegal to process the substances that you need to make the pills," Borst told reporters after attending the launching of the second national anti-polio drive.
Over the last two years, the Dutch government has closed 30 laboratories manufacturing Ecstasy, she said.
Nevertheless, she said, other laboratories still exist in the Netherlands and other European countries.
Borst, visiting Indonesia from Sept. 8 to Sept. 12, suggested that both countries cooperate in dealing with Ecstasy trafficking.
"We think it's a very bad thing that some people export it from Amsterdam airport, for instance, to Indonesia. So, the customs of Holland and Indonesia are going to work better together to prevent it," Borst said.
Recently, she said, her government has formed a national Ecstasy team of police and customs officers working together against Ecstasy trafficking. "We've made a serious effort, but apparently it's not enough. So you have to hit harder," Borst said.
She also denied Minister of Health Sujudi's recent comment that the Netherlands used to allow its citizens to use Ecstasy in small doses.
"He's mistaken. It's not allowed to have it or to take it. But I know that some young people take it.
"When you buy a pill on the black market, only one small pill, it will be difficult to prevent a girl or a boy from taking it," she said. "But, they know it's dangerous. We have a lot of propaganda to tell young people that they should not take Ecstasy because it can be very dangerous for their health."
In response to the recent arrest of several Dutch nationals and Indonesians arriving from the Netherlands after they were caught with the drugs, she said that "it's a terrible thing" and that "they have to be punished some way".
Several Dutch nationals and Indonesians arriving from the Netherlands have been caught in possession of the drug, most of them at Soekarno-Hatta Airport.
In the absence of a clear-cut law on the possession and trafficking of Ecstasy, police have temporarily resorted to a 1949 law on dangerous drugs, a 1992 law on the distribution of substandard drugs and Article 204 of the Criminal Code in their fight to punish offenders.
Ecstasy is popular among young Indonesians and at rave parties. The drug reportedly can be purchased at some discotheques and nightclubs frequented by Jakarta's wealthy teenagers. (31)