Students deny being harmed by fragrant pens

JAKARTA (JP): Students of several elementary and junior high schools questioned the necessity of their headmasters and police in seizing fragrant ballpoint pens from them since the pens caused no harm to them.

Interviewed by The Jakarta Post on Friday, the South Jakarta students also questioned the motives of the media in blowing up the case and inaccurately concluding that the pens gave off drug affects to those who inhaled the tips and inks.

"I don't find the pens make me feel queasy," said Leni, 12, a sixth-grade student of Darunnajah elementary school on Jl. Ulujami Raya in Pessangrahan.

Even her parents, she said, had been influenced by media reports and had asked her to immediately exchange the pen's ink with one that contained no fragrance.

"They were worried that the pen contained harmful elements that might affect me such as what had been reported by the media," Leni said.

Her opinion and experience was shared by most of her friends and students from other schools.

"I bought one but it didn't harm me. But still the school seized it," a student girl from Darunnajah junior high school in Petukangan said.

The students at the school admitted to handing over 33 fragrant pens to their teachers, who later submitted them to the local police for further investigation.

With the permission and help of school principals, police in several areas around the capital have conducted raids at several schools and seized the wanted pens, which have the fragrance of bubblegum.

The officers, based on the media reports, suspected the pens contained drug elements. Hundreds of pens have been confiscated and are being examined at a police laboratory.

Similar hysteria was also found in several big cities across the country.

The pens, widely used by students due to their interesting colors and motifs, are sold freely in markets and on the streets, costing Rp 1,000 (US 15 cents) to Rp 1,500 each.

The pens are offered in two types: one with a color string to put around the neck and one without the string.

No complaint

Nurhan, an administration staffer of the Darunnajah elementary school, said the students gave their fragrant pens themselves to the teachers because they were afraid of the pens' potential effects.

"We have not raided the students while searching for the pens -- the students handed theirs over to the teachers," Nurhan said, adding that none of the students at the school had complained of the effects of the pens so far.

A school principal of a junior high school in South Jakarta said he was disappointed when a media report suggested that his student had suffered nausea and had vomited after inhaling the pen's ink.

"When I confirmed the report to all my students, none of them said they had experienced such things. Moreover, my students admitted that none of them had been asked by either the media or the police about the pens," the principal, who asked for anonymity, told the Post.

Chief of Kebayoran Lama subprecinct police, Maj. A. Rohim, who initially investigated the case in the capital, said that he had inhaled 16 of the 33 confiscated pens before sending the evidence to the South Jakarta precinct police.

"Yes, the pens are fragrant indeed. But they didn't give me any effects or a headache," he said at his office.

Director General for Medicine and Food Control of the Ministry of Health, Sampurno, said his office had recently conducted a thorough examination on the ink in the pens and found that it contained no drug or psychotropic essences but a form of alcohol and benzene.

"We need a few more days to find the exact kind of solution, then we can examine its effect on the human body," Sampurno was quoted as saying by the Warta Kota daily on Wednesday.

The circulation of the colorful fragrant pens has reached large areas of the capital.

Asri Nur, a student at SDN 03 Cikini in the Menteng district in Central Jakarta, admitted to having bought the fragrant ballpoint pens from a seller on a public bus in Tambun, Bekasi area, last month.

"I was attracted to the fragrant pen, then I bought it," she said.

Another student, Orlina Lestari, said she was interested in buying the ballpoint due to the good shape of the pen which was decorated with the noted cartoon figures of Mickey Mouse.

Isah, 40, a dweller on Jl. Raden Saleh said she bought a fragrant pen for her son Firdaus, a student at SMP 18 Menteng Kecil junior high school in the Menteng area

"Previously I didn't know the ballpoint contained drugs. But, after some newspapers reported the pen contained drugs, I ordered my son to hastily throw away the pen," she said.

The media reports have, however, led to a significant drop in the selling of the pens.

"Last month, I could sell two dozen of the pens per week. Now, I'm not even able to sell a dozen within a week," said trader A Yin of the Radesa shop in Cikini.

But student Rachmat of SMP 3 junior high school on Jl. Manggarai Utara said he always suffered from headaches after inhaling the pen's ink.

"I used to smell the pen and always got headaches," he said, adding that he was once addicted to smelling the ink of the pens. (01/asa)