Soeharto orders closure of Ecstasy venues
JAKARTA (JP): In response to growing public concern, President Soeharto ordered yesterday that entertainment spots doubling as marketplaces for drugs be closed down.
Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Azwar Anas relayed Soeharto's message to the press after meeting with the President yesterday. "Impose sanctions against entertainment spots which abuse their permits. If necessary, close them down," Soeharto was quoted by Azwar as saying.
During the meeting, Azwar informed Soeharto of the widening circulation of the drug Ecstasy, locally known as "Satan pills", in places such as discotheques located in big cities and small towns as well.
"The government is deeply concerned about the wide availability of the drug, which endangers our younger generation," Azwar said. "This is why the President has instructed all local and provincial governments to monitor entertainment centers."
President Soeharto signed on July 15 the bill on psychotropic drugs, which will soon be submitted for deliberation to the House of Representatives. If passed, the draft law would amend the 1976 Anti-Narcotics Law, considered to be outdated because it has no provision on newly invented drugs such as Ecstasy.
After the law is ratified, "users and traffickers will be harshly dealt with," Azwar promised.
In a related development yesterday, National Police Chief Lt. Gen. Dibyo Widodo pointed to the existence of "political interests" behind the increasing number of Ecstasy traffickers and users.
"It's possible that there are parties which use Ecstasy and target teenagers to further their political interests," the three-star general told a seminar on drugs attended by around 300 people from various professions, such as students, teachers, parents, doctors and police officers.
Later, most of the teenagers would then become addicts and unable to quit using drugs, said Dibyo.
"Their futures will be destroyed and this, in turn, will threaten the future and life of our country," he said.
Dibyo said that police have to anticipate any possibilities that could be detected behind the increasing use and trafficking of Ecstasy pills in the country.
"We know that there's pure business considerations behind the trafficking, but there might be other possibilities behind that," he said after opening the one-day seminar. He did not elaborate, however.
Ecstasy, the street name of a designer substance brewed by illegal factories, generally comprises MDMA or MDA, which can have a great physical impact on the brain's neuron cells. It generally circulates in discotheques frequented by youths and executives.
Frequent use of Ecstasy is harmful, because the body exerts too much energy, which can cause both physical and mental exhaustion.
Thus far, there is no law to prosecute traffickers and users of Ecstasy. Police have been hampered in their fight against Ecstasy because the 1976 Anti-narcotics Law does not classify the drug as a narcotic. The law confines narcotics to marijuana, cocaine and morphine.
The police have resorted to using a 1949 Law on Dangerous Drugs, the 1992 Health Law No. 23 and Article 204 of the Criminal Code, which deals with the supply of dangerous drugs. People breaking these laws are subject to between seven years and life in prison or a fine ranging from Rp 140 million to Rp 300 million.
The long-awaited bill on psychotropic drugs rules that violators can be punished with up to 15 years in prison or fined up to Rp 140 million. (swe/bsr)