Thirteen have died of drug abuse in 3 months

Thirteen have died of drug abuse in 3 months

JAKARTA (JP): Thirteen people have died from drugs overdose
over the last three months, a senior doctor at the Cipto
Mangunkusumo General Hospital says, describing the statistic as
alarming.

Agus Purwadianto, the head of Forensic Department at the
hospital said on Friday that the victims had little knowledge
about drugs.

Data made available by the hospital morgue indicated that the
13 victims were between 20 and 35 years of age.

From January to August this year, a total of 36 people have
died due to overdoses.

Agus said that the number might be higher as people are
reluctant to report a relative's death due to drugs.

There have been times when a drug user has died in an orgy
with some friends, he said. "Unfortunately, the friends have no
knowledge of giving first aid. Worse they usually abandon the
dead buddy."

The senior doctor said most of the victims were from poor and
uneducated families. "Perhaps, they had never received education
about drugs," he said.

He said education on the dangers of drugs use was very
important to prevent people from drug abuse.

"The junkies usually try to increase the amount of drugs they
are able to take from time to time to get what they call
satisfaction, without being aware that they have been trapped in
a death game," said Agus, who is also the chairman of the Jakarta
Chapter of the Indonesian Medical Doctors Association (IDI).

"Their bodies are shocked when receiving more and more
dangerous substances until a certain point when their bodies
can no longer tolerate the drugs."

Agus criticized the government for its sluggishness in dealing
with drug abuse, especially among youths.

"The government has failed to coordinate among all resources
to wage war against drugs. Therefore, many non-governmental
organizations initiate programs to curb the problem," he said,
citing the Anti Drug Movement (Granat) as an example. (asa)