Indonesia to ratify UN convention on psychotropic drugs
Indonesia to ratify UN convention on psychotropic drugs
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia is close to ratifying the United
Nations Convention on Psychotropic Substances, as part of its
efforts to seal legal loopholes that previously enabled drug
abusers and traffickers to escape punishment.
Factions in the House of Representatives approved the document
in a plenary session yesterday, declaring that it will help
improve cooperation among agencies in the national antidrug
campaign.
Didiet Haryadi Priyohutomo of the ruling Golkar said the
ratification will help improve Indonesia's international image.
"Soon, no suspected abusers or traffickers of psychotropic
substances will be able to flee punishment because of a poor
legal net," he said.
The bill for the ratification of the convention is already
known here as the "bill of Ecstasy" after the name of a notorious
rave stimulant growing in popularity here. Cases of abuse and
trafficking of the drug have increasingly made headlines.
Among the most recent cases was the arrest of a Garuda
Indonesia pilot in Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam for attempting
to smuggle 8,000 Ecstasy pills. Yesterday, custom and excise
officials at the Ngurah Rai airport in Denpasar discovered over
29,000 Ecstasy pills inside three pieces of baggage left
unclaimed for the past three months.
Critics have frequently said that many drug abusers and
traffickers arrested by the police have escaped punishment
because Indonesia did not have laws which dealt with abuse and
trafficking of psychotropic substances such as Ecstasy.
Yesterday, the House passed the convention after 168 hours of
deliberation held since Minister of Health Sujudi submitted the
bill to the House on Sept. 5.
"This shows that the House and the government agree to pay
serious attention to problems growing from the abuse of
psychotropic substances," Sujudi told the plenary session chaired
by Deputy House Speaker Soetedjo yesterday.
President Soeharto has yet to give the final ratification.
Sujudi promised the President would do so soon.
By December 1995, 140 countries had ratified the convention.
Ircham Abdurrochim from the Moslem-based United Development
Party (PPP) faction said rapid advancement in transportation
facilities and technology has rendered the government powerless
to deal with drug abuse on its own.
"The ratification of this convention will ensure cooperation
among agencies in the fight against substance abuse," he said.
The convention prohibits use of any psychotropic substances
except for scientific and very limited medical purposes, by duly
authorized persons, and in medical and scientific establishments
which are directly under the control of their governments or
specifically approved by them.
The 33 articles of the convention cover subjects such as
control of preparations, licenses, special administrations,
prescriptions, warning on packages and advertising, records,
provisions relating to international trade, prohibition of and
restrictions on export and import, and measures of inspection.
The document stipulates that all countries adopting the
convention should take, based on their legal systems and domestic
laws, strict measures against abuse of substances and against
their illicit trafficking.
In addition to the convention, the government also presented a
bill on psychotropic substances to the House on Sept. 30. The
House will deliberate the document in November and is expected to
pass it next January.
The 67-article bill allows a maximum jail term of 20 years and
a fine of up to Rp 500 million (US$ 212,765) to be passed on
anyone found guilty of trafficking psychotropic substances. (ste)