Rising drug abuse worries Soeharto

Rising drug abuse worries Soeharto

JAKARTA (JP): President Soeharto said yesterday he was
concerned by the steady growth of drug addiction despite
international efforts to curb drug abuse and trafficking.

He pledged that the government would keep fighting drug abuse
and try to rehabilitate addicts.

"Traffickers mainly target young people because they are the
most lucrative market," Soeharto said in a speech, read by
Minister of Social Services Endang Kusuma Inten Suweno, to mark
the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking.

A private foundation for drug rehabilitation released a
statement Tuesday which said that none of Jakarta's junior or
senior high schools were drug free.

The Bersama foundation's chairman, Putera Astaman, issued the
statement after meeting President Soeharto at the Bina Graha
presidential office.

The statement contained the findings of surveys which said
drug abuse had reached alarming proportions.

"Several surveys show that there are no junior or senior high
schools in big cities, especially Jakarta, which are free of drug
abuse problems," said Putera, a retired police major general.

He said drugs and alcohol might be part of the reason for the
recent riots because people became violent under their influence.
He was referring to the widespread election riots which claimed
more than a hundred lives.

"Recent cases indicate that drug abuse has spread widely in
society," Putera said.

In an international appeal, the United Nations Secretary-
General Kofi A. Annan said yesterday: "Our first priority must be
to reduce the exposure of young people to drug abuse.

"It is alarming that many individuals are beginning to
experiment with drugs at a very young age," Annan said. "The
problems are enormous, but I am convinced that individuals,
communities and governments, acting together, can make a
difference." (06)