Research needed to deal with rising drug abuse: Expert
Research needed to deal with rising drug abuse: Expert
By Prapti Widinugraheni
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia urgently needs scientific research on
why drug abuse is worsening in Indonesia, an expert says.
Dr. Al Bachri Husin, psychiatrist and Director of the Drug
Dependency Hospital, said there has hardly been any scientific
studies resulting in preventive actions done on drug abuses.
The outcome and the preventive actions recommended by the past
studies lacked scientific validity.
"Epidemiology studies are important to see where the trend of
the market and types of drugs are leading to. Although it needs a
lot of money, it is workable because Indonesia has many experts
in the field," he told The Jakarta Post.
So far, he said, only "small studies" have been carried out
based on the databases of hospitals across the country.
The International Narcotics Control Board disclosed this week
that there have been indications of an increase in the abuse and
trafficking of benzodiazepines and stimulants, especially those
containing ephedrine, on the illicit drug market worldwide.
Benzodiazepines are a group of psychotropic substances used
mainly for the treatment of sleeping disorders and anxiety.
Ephedrine is a raw material used in the illicit manufacture of
methamphetamine, a stimulant widely abused particularly in the
United States and Southeast Asia.
Bachri said the misuse of benzodiazepines and ephedrine would
increase in Indonesia in the future although currently only 0.06
percent of the country's population are reported tto be drug
abusers, 90 percent of whom are addicted to cannabis.
Bachri said his estimation is based on the fact that an
increasing amount of both substances can presently be found on
the illicit drug market in a wide number of variations.
"Drug traffickers also face greater risks now when carrying
sophisticated drugs like heroin due to stricter government
control and therefore shift to trafficking benzodiazepines
instead," he said.
A new trend of "designer drugs" brewed by "street pharmacists"
containing benzodiazepines and ephedrine, he said, were also
likely to add to the number of drug abuse in the country.
"It's a trillion-dollar industry out there," he said.
Bachri considered drug abuse as nothing new to Indonesia as it
dates back to the 1970s.
"But the increasing trend, which is actually quite
significant, is not followed by improvements in preventive
actions," he said, adding that prevention against drug abuse is
jointly conducted by the ministries of information, health and
the state ministry of youth affairs and sports.
However, he said, there is presently no special law overseeing
benzodiazepines, which has popular local terms such as nipam, MG,
rohyp, rivo, lexo, steso and dum and prices for some ranging
between Rp 1,000-2,000 for 10 tablets while others sell for
hundreds of times more for a tablet.
Health offices currently categorize benzodiazepines in the
group of "hard drugs" which is regulated by a ministerial decree.
Bachri said it was wrong to think that drug abuse only
occurred among "troubled" young people.
"They have 1001 reasons to use it. Many of my patients come
from nice families and I would say that drug abuse is simply a
trend among them," he said.
User groups usually consist of young people aged between 12
years and 38 years, with most of them in the 18 to 22 years age
bracket.
"During the 1970s, the majority of users could be found in
Jakarta but over the years there has been a more even spread
across all provinces," Bachri said.
The Drug Dependency Hospital, established in 1972 and
presently having 20 beds, has been having trouble handling the
flow of patients, many of whom are already on the hospital's
waiting list and treated as outpatients.