Too much fun bring them down

Too much fun bring them down

JAKARTA (JP): A famous television newscaster's son, a famous
fashion designer's daughter, a famous general's son, the son of a
famous professor, the son of a well known surgeon, a wealthy
international businessman's son, the son of a famous rock star,
top government officials, minister's sons and daughters, some of
Indonesia's most well known, distinguished, and famous family
names populate the expanding list of drug abusers and addicts
across our nation.

Some of these individuals are now being treated in drug
treatment and recovery centers across Jabotabek (Jakarta-Bogor-
Tangerang-Bekasi) area, and other parts of Java. Drug abuse and
addiction has become an acknowledged crisis across our nation.

How can these young individuals, who seemingly have everything
they want, become drug abusers and addicts? They have all the
advantages young people could ever want. They have prestigious,
well known, caring and loving parents. They live in the finest
homes - their wardrobes and closets are filled with labeled
clothes from around the world, they are enrolled in the best
schools and given the best education possible. They have money in
their pockets to spend daily, they want for nothing, everything
needed is provided, yet many become drug abusers.

Why, how can this be?

Young people, both males and females, get high for many
reasons, and the three main reasons are, first for fun, second
for escape, and third because there is no other choice! Upper and
middle class youths usually begin getting high with their
friends, or relatives, just for fun.

It's just cool getting high, and so cool getting high with
cool friends. Getting high for young people is fun, cool,
exciting, euphoric, magic - a magical mystery tour, a Disneyland
ticket ride into the mind, a trip within the world of illusion
and fantasy, and a way to experience the sinetron world of drugs,
sex and crazy music.

Why do they do this, what is the fantastic attraction to drugs
and getting high? Because it's cool to fit in, it's cool to be
part of the in-crowd. It's cool to be seen and be known as one
who travels within the popular, and veiled, inner-circles. It's
very cool to be seen as someone who's cool. It's cool to get
high! All the cool people party and get high.

Young people from the upper classes are known to become easily
restless, meaning bored. Often they complain, "there is never
anything to do, everything is so monotonous and boring". And -
drugs take the boredom and monotony away ... they take the
boredom and monotony away, very, very quickly.

Drugs, in the beginning, make a person feel good (fantastic,
wonderful, and often very special), feel a glow and warmth they
have never felt before, feel good about themselves, feel all the
senses come alive, feel the mind come alive and feel a sense of
freedom. Drugs, in the beginning, give new meaning and value to
the word "FUN".

Peter Pan fantasy

Often young people, who come from affluent families, run
around endlessly in search of fun. Fun, that ever present
enticement, that lure of primitive seduction, the enchantment of
music and rhyme from the "magical kingdom" that calls from within
the world of drugs. The desire for fun, the lust to have more,
the craving to be able to have fun forever.... Drugs, often in
the beginning stages, create an imaginative Peter Pan fantasy ...
"the idea a person can have fun forever, can create and live
within a magical realm, and will never, never have to grow-up."

The advantages the upper classes enjoy are obvious, they have
open exposure and full access to all the novelties and candy
(life style and drugs) young people could hope for. Often those
from the upper echelon search for weekend excitement every day of
the week. Many who begin using drugs regularly believe they need
incentive to stimulate motivation. Drugs, early on provide
incentive, do stimulate, and help with motivation. (But ... this
euphoric panacea does not last very long.) This is a "circle
game", yet this is what these individuals believe.

Also, these young people, their friends, and their peer groups
are easy "marks" for small time dealers and local neighborhood
connections that look for easy prey to peddle their "stuff."

Today the drug culture is well established and firmly rooted
in Indonesia. Drug trafficking routes are well organized and run
efficiently. Putaw (low-grade heroin) is now accessible from
Sabang to Merauke. Factories churn out large quantities of
ecstasy and shabu-shabu (methamphetamine) from their well
equipped laboratories and fields of marijuana are secure and
protected from outside interference.

The latest estimates of drug addicts in Indonesia are 3.6
million. The abundance of drugs in the major cities and the broad
availability would indicate the number is on the increase.

'Malu'

Family name, status, influence, or intellect have little to do
with who will, or will not become a drug abuser or addict? Young
men and women from the upper strata of our society fall into the
drug trap just as easily as the less fortunate. But the stigma
and disgrace are often more difficult to confront by families
from the upper class. Families from the upper class, at first,
try and hide the problem behind closed doors, hire a professional
therapist to try and correct the problem, purchase herbs and
expensive vitamins, special remedies and medicines, or try rapid
detox with doctors and psychiatrists supervising treatment, seek
religious help to heal the problem, or send the young person to
another country for detoxification and rehabilitation.

Malu - the shame, guilt, and disgrace of having a drug addict
for a son or daughter is one of the most horrible and shocking
nightmare a parent can possibly imagine. Occasionally, the
possibility that someone in the community or place of employment
might find out about the drug problem in the family, causes some
parents (or other family members) such suffering and anguish that
some suffer a mental and emotional collapse (breakdown) under the
stress of the situation.

Another consideration we must now confront is the rapidly
escalating cases of HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis C, among drug users,
abusers and addicts. Those in the upper classes are often more
susceptible to becoming infected with these viruses, because
needle use and needle sharing is prevalent, and considered very
cool, with many young men and women in the upper strata who use
putaw and shabu-shabu. Many young Indonesians in today's drug
scene began using needles semi-regularly or regularly starting as
early as junior high or high school.

Over the next few years substantial numbers of our most well
known sons and daughters, as well as a mass of unknown young
people will become drug abusers and addicts. Many already are.

In truth, hard drugs (putaw and shabu-shabu) can easily be
found across the entire archipelago. People must realize, there
is no way to protect their family from the pressure, the danger
of today's drug culture. Both the rich and famous, and the
moderate and the fragile are susceptible to drug abuse and
addiction.

If drug abuse or addiction (and/or HIV/AIDS or Hepatitis)
enters your home and affects a family member, reach out, seek
qualified and professional assistance. Don't become so frightened
or embarrassed about "face, malu, and reputation" that you become
immobile and cannot take positive action. Remember the primary
concern for a family facing this problem is the concern for
saving a life. (David Gordon)