Legislators urge rehab for drug addicts

Legislators urge rehab for drug addicts

JAMBI, Jambi: Parents with drug-addicted children should bring
them to the mental hospital for rehabilitation, urged councillors
dismayed by the lack of drug addicts undergoing treatment.

Councillors of the provincial legislature recently visited
Jambi mental hospital and found only two people being treated for
their drug habits.

"People in Jambi, especially parents, are still reluctant to
take their children to the mental hospital for treatment,"
chairman of the council's Commission E on welfare issues Zakie
Hanim said on Wednesday.

He said Jambi has thousands of children who are addicted to
drugs, but parents did not admit them for rehabilitation, fearing
that people would think their children were mentally ill or
retarded if they were admitted to the mental hospital, Zakie
explained, quoting the hospital director.

He said that drug rehabilitation includes treatment by a
psychiatrist, and the mental hospital had the facility and
expertise to handle such cases. -- Antara