New ruling on narcotic import quota drafted

New ruling on narcotic import quota drafted

JAKARTA (JP): A new regulation is being drafted to set a quota
on the amount of narcotic substances imported and produced in the
country in an effort to curb a possible spill-over seeping into
the illegal market.

Production and import of narcotics in the country are
monopolized by privately-run Kimia Farma.

Once the new regulation is in place, the government would have
the right to restrict the amount that the company can import and
produce.

Director General of Food and Medicine Control Sampurno said
here on Friday that the Ministry of Health would each year survey
the expected demand from hospitals, medical schools and other
institutions permitted to utilize narcotics, and determine the
required amounts.

"The production and supply of the narcotics each year will
depend on the determined amount. This way we can help prevent
illicit trafficking of the narcotics," Sampurno told reporters.

The legal use of narcotics in Indonesia is limited to
prescribed medication and research.

Sampurno expressed confidence that with the new quota system
the government can better control the legal production and import
of the drugs, thereby curbing unwanted excess.

However, he did not say how much the current official national
demand for the drugs.

The drug problem has gained nationwide attention in recent
months. Minister of Health Achmad Sujudi has pledged that his
office would do its utmost to help eradicate the problem.

The ministry's Law and Public Relations Bureau Chief Budi
Yhamono said a rough draft of the regulation on the narcotics
quota may be completed by the end of a four-day National Working
Meeting of the Ministry of Health that began on Wednesday.

"We are also discussing the revision of Law No. 5/1997 on
narcotics and Law No. 22/1997 on psychotropic drugs. We are
looking into basic changes in the length of punishment for
violators and procedures for narcotics production and supply,"
Budi said.

The revision will propose a maximum jail term of 20 years or
life imprisonment for drugs traffickers.

"We are considering the death sentence but it's still quite
controversial among us," he added.

Sampurno also said that his office had approved the entry of
the Naloxone detoxification pills with a dosage of 0.4 milligram.

The pills will help recovering drug users clean their system
of the various toxins consumed during their addiction.

The pills can be acquired through a prescription from
physicians or psychiatrists.

Each pill is sold at a price of Rp50,000 (US$6.25). (04)