Rp250m to fight drug use in Jambi

JAMBI: Jambi city administration has set aside Rp 250 million (US$25,000) to fight increasing numbers of drug users aged between 19 and 40 years old.

"The rapid increase in the number of drug users is surprising," Lamtiar Tumanggor, a drug and HIV/AIDS prevention worker at Orang Kito Information Center (SIKOK) in Jambi, told The Jakarta Post on Monday.

According to the center's official data, some 748 drug users are currently under treatment at the city's hospital this year.

"Last year, there's only 400 drug users (being treated)," he said, adding that the number was only the official number listed, while the real figure might reach 9,000 people, or 2.5 percent of the city's 400,000 residents. -- JP