Indonesia tries to kick habit of drug use
Indonesia tries to kick habit of drug use
Drug use is increasingly prevalent in the country, especially
among the young in Jakarta and other major cities. The Jakarta
Post's correspondents Asip Agus Hasani, MMI Ahyani, I Wayan
Juniartha and reporter T. Sima Gunawan look at efforts to halt
drug abuse.
JAKARTA (JP): It was the fun of a nighttime pool-side party.
The warm air was filled with laughter as a young man plunged into
the water to the cheers of partygoers.
But the atmosphere changed when his body surfaced moments
later. He was dead.
"He died because of a drug overdose," one of the guests
recalled.
It happened at a house in South Jakarta a few years ago.
Today, with drug use increasing, reports of deaths from overdoses
are not uncommon.
Some drug users are waking up to the frightening realities.
"I used to treat my friends to drug parties," says Made Dwitra
(not his real name), who is the 27-year-old son of a well-known
businessman in Denpasar. "We would drink and then take heroin."
No longer the domain of private parties and discotheques,
drugs are now found in schools.
Some high schools order students who are suspected of drug use
to undergo drug tests at the state Drug Dependency Hospital and
obtain certification they are drug-free.
Even elementary school students have confessed to taking
drugs.
An 11-year-old student told the West Jakarta District Court
during the trial of a suspected drug trafficker that he had used
barbiturate pills for six months. A teacher said 20 students in
his class took the pills.
Aji, 25, began using drugs when he was studying at a college
in East Jakarta. It changed his behavior and his life.
He became easily upset and stayed out until the early morning.
He told lies to conceal his drug use and became a "thief" to
support his habit.
"At the beginning I thought it was no big deal, he was just
like other disobedient kids," Hendy, his father, says.
He realized there was a serious problem when money and
valuables started to go missing from the house.
His initial shock at finding out the truth gave way to a
feeling of blame at not raising his son properly. Hendy showered
Aji with love to help him give up drugs. Aji is now taking a 10-
month drug treatment program run by Yayasan Permata Hati Kita in
Bogor, West Java.
Love also brought back hope for Risa, 22. Risa, who studied at
college in Australia, almost lost his future because of his
addiction.
"I slept, woke up, ate, watched TV ... I was confused, like a
walking zombie."
He returned home early in 1998. His family discovered his
addiction but accepted him. Love and family support, many say, is
vital to help addicts recover.
An important part of the recovery process is to instill self-
esteem in addicts and convince them they are not worthless, says
Joyce Djaelani Gordon of Yayasan Permata Hati Kita.
"This is what's good about Narcotics Anonymous: when you
recover, you can help others," said Joyce, who applies the
principle in the foundation's recovery program.
Indonesia reportedly has over 1.3 million drugs abusers and
addicts. About 10 percent of them are estimated to live in
Jakarta, while most of the others are in Bandung, Yogyakarta,
Surabaya, Medan, Ujungpandang, Pakanbaru and Denpasar.
"What's more alarming is the fact that children have started
to use drugs," Joyce said.
She noted a rising trend toward adolescent drug use beginning
a few years ago along with the increase in student brawls.
"The students take barbiturate pills before they fight," she
says.
Most drugs users and addicts are young, aged between 15 and
35. While adolescents most often use barbiturate pills or inhale
intoxicating agents like glues or gasoline, older addicts abuse
ganja and heroine, the designer drug ecstasy, shabu-shabu
(crystal methamphetamine), putauw (low-grade heroin) and cocaine.
Joyce believes the number of drug users sharply increased when
ecstasy became common in the country in 1996. Ecstasy is the
"gateway" to harder drugs like heroin, shabu-shabu and cocaine,
she adds.
Although the dangers of drugs are well-known, the grim facts
have failed to stop drug experimentation.
A lack of experts and facilities to treat drug addiction
compounds the problem.
Joyce refers to the government's stipulation that mental
hospitals set aside 10 beds for treatment of drugs users.
"But the patients are reluctant to go to mental hospitals
because they don't want to be considered mentally ill."
Some hospitals offer detoxification programs but these usually
do not include counseling. Only recently have more treatment and
recovery centers been established.
The government is now planning to establish a special
institution to deal with drugs, with the national police chief as
the head coordinator.
The role of the police is ironic; it is an open secret that
weak and discriminative law enforcement has worsened the drug
problems. Joyce hopes the government will not overlook the social
aspects of the issue.
The spread of drug abuse may exert a much greater toll on
society as a whole.
Joyce, who is also a consultant on HIV/AIDS, warns of the high
risk of transmission of the deadly virus through intravenous drug
use.
In Thailand, the virus is mostly spread through this route,
not by sexual contact. In Vietnam, 60 percent of new HIV cases
involve drug addicts, she said.
Although Indonesia's HIV cases have involved sexual
transmission, drug use, including sharing needles, continues to
spread. If health administrators remain slow in dealing with the
widespread drug problem, they may face a new catastrophe on their
hands.