Pubdate: Sat, 07 Mar 2015
Source: Jakarta Post (Indonesia)
Copyright: The Jakarta Post
Contact:  http://www.thejakartapost.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/645
Author: Sudirman Nasir
Note: The author received a PhD from the Melbourne School of 
Population Health at the University of Melbourne. His thesis was 
about drug use and he now lectures at the Faculty of Public Health, 
Hasanuddin University in Makassar.

GOVT'S WAR ON DRUGS IS NOT WORKING

MAKASSAR - Over the last few weeks we have witnessed, or perhaps been 
involved in, a fierce debate about drugs and how to deal with drug 
abuse, drug dealing and the accompanying issues in Indonesia. The 
polemic in particular turned emotional, since drug use is a sensitive issue.

The controversy was triggered by the execution of nine convicted drug 
traffickers, including foreign nationals, and the handing down of 
death sentences to 10 others shortly thereafter.

The strict law enforcement has sparked a diplomatic row between 
Indonesia and several countries whose citizens were or will be executed.

Unfortunately the diplomatic tension has been exploited, hindering a 
constructive debate about better strategies for dealing with drugs in 
Indonesia.

While there is strong popular support for a punitive approach in the 
war on drugs, including the application of the death sentence, we 
should admit that there are parts of Indonesian society, such as 
social and public health activists as well as academics, who dissent.

Without much fanfare, these activists and academics have worked hard 
to advocate an alternative, which is a more evidence-based and 
compassionate approach to drug issues.

It is understandable that the mainstream media is reluctant to 
promote the different voices as a result of the current "mass 
hysteria" and oversimplification that the death penalty and punitive 
approach is a magic bullet to save Indonesia from the so-called drug 
emergency or to facilitate a utopian aspiration of "a free drug society".

Besides, the alternative approach has been misunderstood as condoning 
drug consumption and trafficking.

Nevertheless, the campaign for an alternative approach should 
continue because there is no evidence that capital punishment is 
effective in deterring or reducing drug-related crimes.

Instead of curbing drug dealing, abuse and related harms, the 
punitive approach has exacerbated the suffering of drug users and 
increased drug harms such as overdoses and other consequences such as 
widespread infections, including HIV and hepatitis C, transmitted 
through injection.

Worse, the punitive approach usually hinders drug users' access to 
social and health services they need to overcome their addiction.

To better understand why the war on drugs and the punitive approach 
to dealing with drug-related crimes does not work, we should look 
more carefully at the history and the origin of the approach.

The "war on drugs" is an American term commonly referred to as a 
campaign against drugs and for punitive measures, including military 
intervention and death sentences, to combat the illegal drug trade.

This approach includes a combination of policies intended to 
discourage the production, distribution and consumption of illicit drugs.

The term "war on drugs" was popularized by the US media shortly after 
a press conference given by former US president Richard Nixon in June 
1971, the day after the release of his special message to the US 
congress on drug abuse, prevention and control - during which he 
claimed drug abuse was "public enemy number one".

It is worth noting that the message actually included allocating more 
federal resources to the "prevention of new addicts, and the 
rehabilitation of those who are addicted", but the text unfortunately 
did not receive the same public attention as the "war on drugs". 
Soon, many countries, including Indonesia, followed suit.

After more than three decades and billions of dollars spent on the 
global "war on drugs", we have collected abundant data that show the 
punitive approach does not work.

It does not reduce availability and consumption of drugs in most 
countries. Open Society Foundation, for example, recorded that as the 
number of people in the US imprisoned for drug-related offenses has 
nearly doubled now from that in late 1980s, the use of drugs has 
actually increased and street drug prices have skyrocketed.

Even worse, the unintended consequences of the punitive approach have 
been catastrophic.

According to some estimates, hundreds of thousands of homicides in 
the US can be attributed to violence between criminal groups fighting 
for territory facilitated by drug trade.

Furthermore, health epidemics in regions such as Eastern Europe and 
Central and Southeast Asia have worsened, i.e. the number of people 
living with HIV has almost tripled since 2000 and injectable drugs 
have been the leading mode of transmission.

These cases are actually preventable, but the punitive approach 
frequently prevents access to lifesaving services such as needle 
exchange and opioid substitution therapy, and drive addicted drug 
users away from treatment.

It is worth noting a significant increase in mass incarceration in 
many parts of the world such as Thailand, Brazil and Iran, in which 
between 25 and 50 percent of all prisoners have been convicted of 
drug offenses.

However, it should be noted that studies have shown that HIV-risk 
behaviors (such as the sharing of needles and other injecting 
equipment as well as unsafe sex) are even more common in overcrowded 
prisons in many countries, including Indonesia.

There have been many studies that show that in many countries where 
alternative drug policies - such as policy reform through balancing 
legal with public health and social approaches - are implemented, 
drug addiction and crimes did not increase.

In Portugal, for example, where use of all drugs is decriminalized, 
drug consumption did not spike as some had predicted.

Furthermore, there were significant increases in the number of people 
accessing treatment and other services, in addition to a sharp 
reduction in drug-related HIV transmission.

The proportion of drug offenders in the Portuguese prison system also 
fell from 44 percent in 1999 to 21 percent in 2008.

It is therefore important to continue advocating that the Indonesian 
government overcome the "drug emergency" by use of a more 
evidence-based approach, which has proven that the punitive "war on 
drugs" approach and death sentences do not work.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom