Pubdate: Sun, 26 Sep 1999 Source: Jakarta Post (Indonesia) Copyright: The Jakarta Post Contact: P.O. Box 85 Palmerah Jakarta 11001 Fax: (62) (21) 5492685 Website: http://www.thejakartapost.com Author: Asip Agus Hasani, MMI Ahyani, I Wayan Juniartha, T. Sima Gunawan INDONESIA TRIES TO KICK HABIT OF DRUG USE Drug use is increasingly prevalent in the country, especially among the young in Jakarta and other major cities. The Jakarta Post's correspondents Asip Agus Hasani, MMI Ahyani, I Wayan Juniartha and reporter T. Sima Gunawan look at efforts to halt drug abuse. JAKARTA (JP): It was the fun of a nighttime pool-side party. The warm air was filled with laughter as a young man plunged into the water to the cheers of partygoers. But the atmosphere changed when his body surfaced moments later. He was dead. "He died because of a drug overdose," one of the guests recalled. It happened at a house in South Jakarta a few years ago. Today, with drug use increasing, reports of deaths from overdoses are not uncommon. Some drug users are waking up to the frightening realities. "I used to treat my friends to drug parties," says Made Dwitra (not his real name), who is the 27-year-old son of a well-known businessman in Denpasar. "We would drink and then take heroin." No longer the domain of private parties and discotheques, drugs are now found in schools. Some high schools order students who are suspected of drug use to undergo drug tests at the state Drug Dependency Hospital and obtain certification they are drug-free. Even elementary school students have confessed to taking drugs. An 11-year-old student told the West Jakarta District Court during the trial of a suspected drug trafficker that he had used barbiturate pills for six months. A teacher said 20 students in his class took the pills. Aji, 25, began using drugs when he was studying at a college in East Jakarta. It changed his behavior and his life. He became easily upset and stayed out until the early morning. He told lies to conceal his drug use and became a "thief" to support his habit. "At the beginning I thought it was no big deal, he was just like other disobedient kids," Hendy, his father, says. He realized there was a serious problem when money and valuables started to go missing from the house. His initial shock at finding out the truth gave way to a feeling of blame at not raising his son properly. Hendy showered Aji with love to help him give up drugs. Aji is now taking a 10-month drug treatment program run by Yayasan Permata Hati Kita in Bogor, West Java. Love also brought back hope for Risa, 22. Risa, who studied at college in Australia, almost lost his future because of his addiction. "I slept, woke up, ate, watched TV ... I was confused, like a walking zombie." He returned home early in 1998. His family discovered his addiction but accepted him. Love and family support, many say, is vital to help addicts recover. An important part of the recovery process is to instill self-esteem in addicts and convince them they are not worthless, says Joyce Djaelani Gordon of Yayasan Permata Hati Kita. "This is what's good about Narcotics Anonymous: when you recover, you can help others," said Joyce, who applies the principle in the foundation's recovery program. Indonesia reportedly has over 1.3 million drugs abusers and addicts. About 10 percent of them are estimated to live in Jakarta, while most of the others are in Bandung, Yogyakarta, Surabaya, Medan, Ujungpandang, Pakanbaru and Denpasar. "What's more alarming is the fact that children have started to use drugs," Joyce said. She noted a rising trend toward adolescent drug use beginning a few years ago along with the increase in student brawls. "The students take barbiturate pills before they fight," she says. Most drugs users and addicts are young, aged between 15 and 35. While adolescents most often use barbiturate pills or inhale intoxicating agents like glues or gasoline, older addicts abuse ganja and heroine, the designer drug ecstasy, shabu-shabu (crystal methamphetamine), putauw (low-grade heroin) and cocaine. Joyce believes the number of drug users sharply increased when ecstasy became common in the country in 1996. Ecstasy is the "gateway" to harder drugs like heroin, shabu-shabu and cocaine, she adds. Although the dangers of drugs are well-known, the grim facts have failed to stop drug experimentation. A lack of experts and facilities to treat drug addiction compounds the problem. Joyce refers to the government's stipulation that mental hospitals set aside 10 beds for treatment of drugs users. "But the patients are reluctant to go to mental hospitals because they don't want to be considered mentally ill." Some hospitals offer detoxification programs but these usually do not include counseling. Only recently have more treatment and recovery centers been established. The government is now planning to establish a special institution to deal with drugs, with the national police chief as the head coordinator. The role of the police is ironic; it is an open secret that weak and discriminative law enforcement has worsened the drug problems. Joyce hopes the government will not overlook the social aspects of the issue. The spread of drug abuse may exert a much greater toll on society as a whole. Joyce, who is also a consultant on HIV/AIDS, warns of the high risk of transmission of the deadly virus through intravenous drug use. In Thailand, the virus is mostly spread through this route, not by sexual contact. In Vietnam, 60 percent of new HIV cases involve drug addicts, she said. Although Indonesia's HIV cases have involved sexual transmission, drug use, including sharing needles, continues to spread. If health administrators remain slow in dealing with the widespread drug problem, they may face a new catastrophe on their hands. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake