Illegal drugs - a nation's enemy

Illegal drugs - a nation's enemy

The fact that no province, district or municipality is free from illegal drug users and distributors is shocking.

The fact that Indonesia has become a transit point for drug traffickers, along with Thailand, Myanmar, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Nigeria, is equally horrible.

It is even worse knowing that drug trafficking goes hand-in- hand with money-laundering and that it is easy to establish and to operate an ecstasy factory here.

All of these can only mean the ruin of the country's younger generation, a national tragedy, as the biggest market for this kind of goods are those aged between 15 and 24 years.

It is indeed not easy to combat drug abuse, because if you fight it, you also have to fight money-laundering.

Because Indonesia is a transit point for the drug trade it needs a tough system to crack down on traffickers.

Fighting drug abuse means fighting the nation's other enemy -- corruption.

The fact the two are very much related only shows how weak our nation is. -- Media Indonesia, Jakarta