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.