Medical group criticizes state-sponsored drugs bill

JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian Medical Association (IDI) yesterday criticized the government-drafted bill on psychotropic drugs, intended to combat increasing incidents of drug abuse.

Team chairman Kusumanto Setyonegoro, a medical professor at the University of Indonesia, said that the draft law does not adequately define psychotropic drugs.

"Psychotropic drugs do not only produce negative impacts as the bill suggests. They are useful in treating mental illnesses and as painkillers," Kusumanto told members of House Commission VIII on social welfare.

"We want a future law to make clear that the use of psychotropic drugs is limited to medical purposes only," he added.

Association officials said the long-awaited bill lacks clear- cut definitions and falls short in its description of the positive uses of the drugs as medication.

The association's team in charge of preparing suggestions for future deliberations on psychotropic drugs and narcotics presented their proposals to the House of Representatives.

The minister of health has submitted the bill to the state secretariat. The draft law is expected to go to the House for deliberation soon.

The debate on the draft has been ensuing amid increasing concern over the widespread use of Ecstasy stimulant pills among wealthy teenagers in major cities.

Legislator Khofifah Indar Parawansa said the House would urge the government to submit the bill to the legislative body soon for deliberation.

"The unchecked Ecstasy trafficking is especially worrying. It can endanger the country's development unless Indonesia takes prompt action to stop it," she said.

Police are unable to utilize the 1976 Anti-Narcotics Law because Ecstasy, also known as a "designer drug", cannot be classified as a narcotic. The law confines narcotics to marijuana, cocaine and morphine.

Police have had to resort to a 1949 Law on Dangerous Drugs, the 1992 Law on Health -- which deals with the distribution of drugs that do not conform to certain standards -- and Article 204 of the Criminal Code, which deals with people who make available other drugs that could endanger lives.

Kusumanto proposed that the future law mandates the formation of advocacy teams for people facing charges of drug abuse or trafficking.

The teams -- consisting of the police, doctors, health ministry officials, social workers and others -- are to determine the degree of the suspects' involvement, he said.

Possessing and trafficking Ecstasy are illegal under Health Law No. 23 issued in 1992. If found guilty, suspects face a maximum of 15 years in jail and a maximum fine of Rp 300 million.

Ecstasy, also known as MDMA, is popular among young Indonesian adults and teenagers attending parties.

The drug can reportedly be purchased at certain discotheques and places frequented by the city's wealthy teenagers. Before it became popular, the drug sold for between Rp 100,000 and Rp 200,000 per pill. (31)