Darkness falls quickly in Indonesia. Crisp cerulean skies turn grey, then green. The green lingers for a bit, turns the color of aged bronze, then the blackness drops in, enveloping everything. The sky was just turning green on Thursday june 10th when the phone rang. It was Agus. "Laine, Gus here. How are things?" "Good, what's up? Have you delivered the computer to the studio yet?" "No. I tried to earlier but something was going on." "Oh yeah? what?" [continues 1284 words]
JAKARTA: The City Commission for AIDS Control (KPAD) revealed on Monday that around 62 percent of the 25,293 AIDS/HIV patients in the city are drug abusers who use hypodermic needles. KPAD secretary Syafi'i Dahlan told the City Council's Commission E for health, education, and people's welfare that his office was powerless to curb HIV spread as long as the city failed to curb the distribution of narcotics in society. Dahlan said the number of HIV positive people was increasing in tandem with the rampant use of narcotics. [continues 117 words]
With the threat of a death sentence hovering over her head, Australian Schapelle Corby forgot her fears for a few moments when she sang Christmas carols with some of her family in a vermin-infested prison in Bali. On a hot day of steaming humidity, it was the most stressful Christmas Day in Ms Corby's 27 years. Neither she nor her sister, Mercedes, will want to spent another yuletide in Bali's notorious Kerobokan prison for convicted terrorists, murderers and drug pedlars. [continues 292 words]
IT was a worrying Christmas weekend for three Australians behind bars in Bali. One man's drugs trial begins today and another prisoner is waiting for independent drug tests to be conducted. Schapelle Corby, who was visited on Christmas Day by her lawyers and two of her siblings, still has no idea when the 4kg of marijuana found in her luggage will be tested by the Australian Federal Police. Ms Corby and her lawyers fear that if tests to determine the origin of the drugs are not done soon, it will too late. [continues 146 words]
THE father of a Gold Coast woman accused of smuggling drugs into Bali plans to spend time with his daughter in prison this Christmas. Schapelle Corby is awaiting trial in Bali's Kerobokan Prison after more than 4kg of marijuana was found in a bodyboard bag as she arrived in Denpasar Airport in October. The 27-year-old former Gold Coast beauty student said the drugs were planted in her luggage between Brisbane and Denpasar airports. Foreign Minister Alexander Downer has found the case so curious he offered the assistance of Australian Federal Police to test the cannabis to find out where it was grown. [continues 118 words]
The principal of Bina Nusantara School, Gregory C. Mowday, proudly explains how the school has integrated its anti-drug program into the students' daily subjects. "A chemistry teacher, for example, will touch upon drugs and their dangers to the body when he or she is explaining related topics. We may be the only school that has integrated an anti-drug campaign into our daily curriculum," he told The Jakarta Post on the sidelines of the World AIDS Day Fund-Raising Charity Dinner hosted by Rotary Club Jakarta Sentral on Tuesday evening. [continues 350 words]
Three Australians May Face the Death Penalty in Indonesia As Authorities Try to Curb the Drug Trade, Report Sian Powell and Olivia Rondonuwu INDONESIA'S bitter war on drugs has roared unchecked across a nation where civil liberties, due process and merciful sentencing are luxuries enjoyed only by the elite. A few brave voices have spoken out against capital punishment for drug crimes and a few others have lamented the sledgehammer approach of the police. But, for the most part, Indonesians are happy to see drug dealers and users sentenced to death. [continues 1271 words]
Australia would seek clemency if an Australian woman facing drugs trafficking charges in Indonesia's tourist island of Bali should be sentenced to death, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said on Thursday. Schapelle Leigh Corby, 27, was arrested at Denpasar airport on Oct. 9 with 4.2 kilograms of high-grade cannabis in a bodyboard bag after arriving on a flight from Sydney. Indonesian police have said it was the largest quantity of cannabis ever seized being taken into Bali. The beauty therapy student, from the touristic Gold Coast in Queensland state, is facing prosecution under Indonesian legislation that orders death as the maximum penalty for importing drugs. [continues 146 words]
BALI police will charge Australian student Schapelle Corby with drug smuggling under legislation that carries the death penalty. Ms Corby, 27, has repeatedly denied the 4.1kg of high quality marijuana found in her luggage three weeks ago at Bali's international airport belonged to her, claiming it was planted there. The beauty therapy student is held in a tiny cell in the Denpassar Police Headquarters lock-up. Yesterday, one of her legal team said Ms Corby cried frequently when they visited her, saying, "I don't know why this is happening to me, I can't understand why it is happening". [continues 193 words]
DENPASAR - A Gold Coast student who could face the death penalty for allegedly attempting to smuggle drugs into Indonesia from Australia, has pleaded for help, Australian media reported. As Schapelle Leigh Corby, 27, of Tugun, in Queensland, was taken back to her cell after interrogation by Bali police, she pleaded with reporters, "I'm petrified, I'm scared - help me. Tell Mum and Dad I love them," say reports in the Daily Telegraph and Sydney Morning Herald. Customs officers at Bali Airport allegedly found a package of 4.2kg of high-grade cannabis in her bodyboard bag. [continues 140 words]
Few will dispute that drug abuse, if allowed to continue, poses a menace to the welfare of society. Most agree that those who break the law on drugs deserve harsh punishment. Those in possession of ecstasy pills, for instance, have often been arrested and put in jail. Sometimes, drug addicts, people who are really sick, both physically and mentally, have faced the same fate. The law on drugs is directed particularly against the producers, distributors and sellers of drugs. This is also true of foreigners visiting this country, when found guilty of drug trafficking. [continues 227 words]
AN AUSTRALIAN student faces the death penalty after being arrested in Bali carrying 4.2kg of marijuana allegedly hidden in a bodyboard bag. Schapelle Leigh Corby, 27, from Tugun on the Gold Coast, was arrested on Friday afternoon at Bali's airport in Denpasar after an X-ray scan by customs officers showed an unusual package in her bodyboard bag. When officers opened the bag, they found 4.2kg of marijuana leaf in a large plastic bag with dried flowers on top in a poor attempt to disguise the package. [continues 254 words]
Despite protests from both international and national human rights groups, President Megawati Soekarnoputri reasserted on Sunday her support for the death penalty for drug dealers. Speaking during the launch of a national campaign against drug abuse and trafficking here, Megawati said a maximum punishment was necessary due to the imminent danger of drug-related crimes among youth. "Due to the great dangers of drug abuse that has threatened our younger generation, I will uphold the capital punishment for all drug-related crimes," Megawati said. [continues 298 words]
Medan Police were questioning on Wednesday a prosecutor and police officer who were arrested separately a day earlier on drug charges. The two drug suspects are Rajali, 45, a prosecutor with the Medan Prosecutor's Office, and Second Adj. Insp. Iskandar, an officer attached to the North Sumatra Provincial Police's drug squad. The chief of the Medan Municipal Police's drug squad, Comr. Kumbul, said on Wednesday that Rajali was arrested on Tuesday night along with two accomplices, Abdul Muas, 32, and Jeini, 29. The police seized a half kilogram of dry hashish and a small package of crystal amphetamine during the arrests. [continues 198 words]
The National Narcotics Agency (BNN) and the United States' Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) are collaborating to curb the business of drug syndicates. The initial phase of the cooperation was a 10-day training course for narcotics detectives, organized by BNN and DEA, from Aug. 2 to Aug. 11 in Jakarta. The participants were not only Jakarta Police detectives but also those from other big cities in the country. "(Besides that), we will form an intelligence center to collect advanced information on international drug networks," Jakarta Police chief Insp. Gen. Firman Gani said on Friday on the sidelines of the official destruction of drugs worth Rp 13.52 billion (US$1.47 million) at the headquarters. [continues 307 words]
Although the death sentence is still a controversial issue, the Indonesian government executed 67-year-old Indian national Ayodhya Prasadh Chaubey last week for drug smuggling. The government has said capital punishment is a necessary part of the nationwide campaign against drugs. The Jakarta Post asked residents their opinion on the issue. Wismoyo, 32, works for a company in Pasar Minggu, South Jakarta. He lives with his family in Cijantung, East Jakarta: I support putting drug dealers to death because the country has to do something to stop drug use among our youth. [continues 215 words]
Despite nationwide campaigns against illegal drugs, including the handing down of death sentences to traffickers, the number of drug addicts is on the rise. Data from the National Narcotics Agency (BNN) shows the number of drug addicts stood at 3.6 percent of Indonesia's 200 million population, a sharp increase from only 1 percent in 2002. Worse, the country has become a destination country for international drug traffickers, as well as maintaining its position as a transit point for them to enter Australia or New Zealand. [continues 640 words]
JAKARTA: Indonesia executed yesterday an Indian national sentenced to death in 1995 for drug smuggling, ending a three-year gap in carrying out the death penalty. The execution came despite an appeal from the European Union and sparked criticism from human rights groups. It also follows pledges by President Megawati Sukarnoputri, locked in a tough election battle, to get tough on drugs traffickers. A police firing squad shot convicted heroin smuggler Ayodhya Prasadh Chaubey in the North Sumatra capital of Medan before dawn, national police spokesman Paiman said. [continues 212 words]
BOGOR: The Bogor Federation of Women Organizations (GOW), along with the Indonesian Anti-Narcotics Organizations (GAN) and City Narcotics Body (BNK), declared war against drugs on Wednesday. The declaration was made during "Women concerned about the dangers of narcotics" forum held in observance of International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, which fell on June 26. The forum was opened by deputy mayor M. Sahid. "People who are addicted to narcotics will lose their future, as they will spend most of their days simply trying to fulfill their desire for the addictive substances," GOW Bogor chairwoman Asmara Mansyur said at the event. "We want to make the public aware of the dangers of narcotics, with particular emphasis on the role mothers can play to teach their children about avoiding narcotics," she added. [end]
Human rights campaigners have reiterated their call for end to the death penalty, which they say has proven ineffective in deterring drug dealers and is against the basic human right to live. "There is no empirical data that supports an argument a country which has the death penalty can drop its offending rate lower than countries that don't apply capital punishment," Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Association (PBHI) director Hendardi said on Saturday. Hendardi said only God, not the state, had the right to take peoples' lives. [continues 510 words]
The National Police announced on Sunday that they were preparing a firing squad on standby to execute the drug dealers currently on death row, but the Attorney General's Office (AGO) said it had no immediate plans regarding their execution. "We have designated officers to carry out the executions. However, we will have to wait for an order from the prosecutorial authorities ... We hope they will issue such an instruction soon," National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar said during an antidrug rally in Senayan, South Jakarta. [continues 387 words]
Drug dealing is certainly a profitable business, making it irresistible to inmates of the Tangerang penitentiary. They can operate quite efficiently from behind bars, seemingly undeterred by death sentences, already handed down by the Tangerang District Court. Using mobile phones to sell drugs to other inmates and to buyers outside the prison's walls, they sell a range of drugs: cocaine, putaw (low-grade heroin), shabu-shabu (crystal methamphetamine), ecstasy pills and marijuana. They are either fearless or ignorant of the fact that 21 people, including six women, were sentenced to death for drug related crimes in the last three years. Marijuana and shabu-shabu are commonly sold in tiny packages for only Rp 10,000 (US$1.17) each. [continues 350 words]
The National Police and the National Narcotics Agency (BNN) set up a special task force on Thursday to fight the prison drug trade. The task force -- comprising police officers, BNN officials and prisons guards -- will eventually work in 2,400 prisons across the country, following a pilot project at the Cipinang, Salemba and Tangerang penitentiaries. These three prisons are thought to be among the worst in terms of drug trafficking. Several inmates at the prisons have controlled their drug businesses from behind bars, allegedly with the assistance of guards. [continues 279 words]
The nationwide "Say No To Drugs" campaign is apparently nothing more than a public relations exercise regarding the issue of internationally organized drug trafficking, as the crime rate continues to increase. Figures compiled by the National Narcotics Agency (BNN) show a total of 958 drug cases in 1998, which increased to 1,833 in 1999. The numbers soared to 3,478 in 2000 and 3,617 in 2001. Last year, there were 3,985 cases. Despite severe punishment for drug abuse and drug-related crimes, stipulated in Law No. 22/1997 on narcotics, which carries as a maximum penalty the death sentence, many involved in drug-related crimes still roam free in neighborhoods, even in schools. [continues 378 words]
Families of drug addicts were split over the death sentence for drug dealers while legal experts agreed that capital punishment was appropriate given the menace they pose to society. Arisanti, 30, a sister of a drug addict, said she agreed with capital punishment for drug dealers as it would act as a deterrent for others. "If the punishment was only physical imprisonment, there is still a possibility that a convict could bribe a guard to get them out of prison," she told The Jakarta Post. [continues 531 words]
The Indonesian Council of Ulemas (MUI) added its support for the execution of six drug dealers on death row following President Megawati Soekarnoputri's refusal to grant them pardons. The head of the MUI's fatwa (Islamic religious edict) commission, Ma'ruf Amin, said on Wednesday that the council threw its weight behind the executions as drugs were a threat to the younger generation. "The (death) penalty is to prevent the rise of a greater danger," Ma'ruf said as quoted by Antara. [continues 457 words]
The Attorney General's Office will execute six drug dealers in the near future after President Megawati Soekarnoputri refused to pardon the convicts on death row. "We will execute them soon after we settle administrative matters. It's about time," spokesman Andi Syarifuddin told reporters during a press conference on Tuesday. He said that his office had been informed that Megawati had refused to pardon the convicts, meaning that their sentence was final. However, Andi said that the office needed to secure a written letter from the President ordering the execution. [continues 193 words]
The antidrug campaign seems to be getting more intensive support from the police as drug abuse problems become more serious. There are now an estimated four million drug addicts nationwide and some Rp 800 billion is spent daily just on drugs. The Jakarta Post talked to several city residents about the issue and their response to the police attempts. Syifa, 21, is a student at a private university in South Jakarta, majoring in tourism. She lives in Tebet, South Jakarta, with her family: [continues 603 words]
North Sumatra Police must go all out to stop drug trafficking from the war-torn province of Aceh following last week's arrest of three Acehnese women here with 1.5 tons of marijuana, antidrug campaigners say. Secretary-general of the Indonesian Anti-Narcotics Movement (GAN) Zulkarnaen Lubis said the flow of drugs from Aceh had reached an alarming level. He said the cases of drugs trafficking from Aceh, uncovered by police in North Sumatra, rose by over 100 percent, from 1,096 cases in 2001 to 2,264 last year. [continues 420 words]
Drug trafficking and abuse in Jakarta are increasing at an extremely alarming rate due to abundant supplies of drugs on the market, an expert said. "Data shows a declining trend in drug addicts asking for treatment from drug rehabilitation centers. That's extremely alarming as it implies there are abundant supplies on the market that are accessible to drug addicts so that they do not suffer severe craving for drugs that forces them to seek help at rehabilitation centers or hospital," said Dadang Hawari Idries, a professor of psychiatry of the University of Indonesia. [continues 567 words]
Indonesia is facing an epidemic of drug-taking and HIV infection among its young people, writes Tom Hyland. The relentless techno beat is so loud your insides vibrate. Strobe and laser lights flash across the crowd of maybe 5000 that surges in waves across the vast dance floor. It's 2am on a Saturday and amid the noise and crush, the mood in the Millennium nightclub in north Jakarta is a strangely mellow mix of joy and energy. The bar is doing a slow trade; the preferred intoxicant for the young middle-class Indonesians who make up the crowd is ecstasy, the party drug. [continues 703 words]
But It Has Helped Dozens of Addicts in Indonesia, Particularly Those From Poor Families Who Can't Afford Pricey Clinics JAKARTA - Drug addicts in a crowded Jakarta kampung are being submitted to one of the toughest drying-out regimes around. They are being chained to a post in a mosque for weeks on end. But the unconventional cure has helped dozens over the past few years as the number of drug abusers in the country has exploded. Nineteen-year-old Arif does not know how long he has been staying at the Nurul Alam Mosque. [continues 522 words]
MEDAN, Indonesia -- Greater Medan Police officers confiscated nearly 1 ton of heroin on Tuesday in one of the country's largest drug hauls ever. The heroin was recovered from the houses of three men in Dusun XII Bandar Khalifah, Deli Serdang regency. Police detectives' chief Adj. Comr. Maruli Siahaan said the raid on the houses in the early hours of Tuesday followed the carrying out of surveillance in the housing complex over three days. The three houses are located side by side. [continues 196 words]
Some 200 drug-free young people from at least 23 countries in the Asia Pacific region are gathering for the first-ever Asian youth congress on drug abuse prevention in Sanur, Bali, to seek solutions to rampant drug abuse among their peers. Veronica Colondam, chief executive officer of Yayasan Cinta Anak Bangsa (YCAB), Indonesia's leading non-governmental organization working in drug abuse prevention, said on Monday that young people should initiate effective prevention programs for drug abusers. "There are three reasons why an effective prevention program should be initiated by the young: they know why their peers are attracted to drugs; they are in touch with the latest trends in the youth world; they know how to transmit the message effectively to their peers," Colondam said. [continues 441 words]
CIBEUREUM, Indonesia -- Shivering in the early morning mist, recovering heroin addict Slamet prepares to start another day of Islamic prayer and meditation. The 28-year-old man used to spend most of his time stealing and shooting up. Now, after eight months in an Islamic drug rehabilitation center high in the hills of west Java, he is becoming a rare success story in Indonesia's often feeble war on drugs. "Before, people used to look at me like I was trash. All I could think about was heroin. Now, I can eat, sleep and pray like a normal person. I feel good," he says. [continues 498 words]
CIBEUREUM, Indonesia -- Shivering in the early morning mist, recovering heroin addict Slamet prepares to start another day of Islamic prayer and meditation. The 28-year-old man used to spend most of his time stealing and shooting up. Now, after eight months in an Islamic drug-rehabilitation center high in the hills of west Java, he is becoming a rare success story in Indonesia's often feeble war on drugs. "Before, people used to look at me like I was trash. All I could think about was heroin. Now, I can eat, sleep and pray like a normal person. I feel good," he says. [continues 696 words]
JAKARTA - An executive-committee meeting of President Megawati Sukarnoputri's Indonesian Democratic Party-Struggle (PDI-P) began with party leaders taking a urine test. ''This is part of the PDI-P's commitment to combating the use of drugs,'' deputy secretary-general Pramono Anung said after the party's weekly meeting on Tuesday. The order for the tests came from Ms Megawati, who is the party chairman. She was exempted because, according to protocol, examination of the President of Indonesia can be undertaken only by presidential doctors. [continues 77 words]
Jakarta: Indonesian police are searching for the ringleaders of an international drug gang after the largest ecstasy bust in the country's history. Police raided a house in Jakarta on Sunday and recovered 150,000 pills and enough chemicals to produce another 8,000. Police estimated the entire cache was worth $US520,000 ($995,000). Police Brigadier General Edward Aritonang said it was the largest ecstasy bust in Indonesia, and that police had been trying to break up the gang for almost three years. [continues 101 words]
It Will Investigate And Prosecute Offenders To Combat A Rise In The Trafficking And Use Of Narcotics JAKARTA - Confronted with an alarming increase in the number of drug users, the government has set up a more powerful agency to combat drug abuse. State Minister of Administrative Reforms Feisal Tamin said on Tuesday that the National Narcotics Agency (BNN) would have the authority to probe and take legal action against drug users and pushers. 'Drug abuse is an issue that needs immediate attention... We need an institution with more teeth to tackle this situation because the number of drug abusers is increasing.' [continues 276 words]
JAKARTA: The Singapore office of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) is holding an international narcotics law enforcement training course here for Indonesian narcotics police officers. The course, held in cooperation with the American Embassy in Jakarta, was launched by U.S. Ambassador to Indonesia Ralph L. Boyce on Monday. National Police Inspectorate General head Comr. Gen. Alwi Lutan also addressed the opening session of the course, which has been given in various countries around the world. Lutan expressed a commitment to work closely with the DEA and other law enforcement agencies to combat the trafficking of narcotics. [continues 79 words]
Amid mounting concerns due to the increasing numbers of drug abusers in the capital, the government seems to be powerless to contain the problem and curb the distribution of illegal drugs. Alarmingly high figures on drug abuse and trafficking were released by a consortium of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in October 2000 which stated that 3.4 million people, or more than one-third of Jakarta's total population of 8.9 million, are known to be drug abusers. If all the data is accurate, it means that in only one year, the figure rose by a whopping 70 percent from 1999 statistics. [continues 1221 words]
The South Sumatra High Court has imposed the death penalty on Kiagus Zainal Abidinagainst, who had previously been sentenced to 18 years in prison by a lower court for possessing 58.7 kilograms of marijuana. Hairul Sutrisno, a clerk of the high court, told The Jakarta Post here on Wednesday that the decision was made by a panel of four judges in a hearing presided over by Judge Harifin Tumpa, in the city on Dec. 3, 2001, which would soon be delivered to the district court. [continues 405 words]
The latest, most up-to-date report on the spread of HIV in Asia released by the Monitoring the AIDS Pandemic (MAP) Network shows how Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Nepal and Vietnam have registered a marked increases in HIV infection. Two years ago, these countries reported a fairly slow spread of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). The report, which was released on the eve of the 6th International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific (ICAAP) in Melbourne last month, highlights specific examples of the rapid HIV spread among specific sub-populations, such as among injecting drug users (IDUs) in Indonesia, where HIV levels have increased from around 15 percent in 1999 to 40 percent in 2000. [continues 1145 words]
Antidrug activists have hailed President Megawati Soekarnoputri's tough stance against drug dealers, saying it was a significant step on the long road to effectively combating drug trafficking. However, they warned that the effort would be futile unless the government formulated a clear national strategy for dealing with the issue. A lawyer and antidrug activist, Henry Yosodiningrat, took the view that assigning the National Intelligence Agency (BIN) to take charge of coordinating the antidrug campaign without being backed up by clear strategies would not be of much use. [continues 465 words]
Criticized for its futile attempts to curb drug trafficking, the government has now decided to change tack. President Megawati Soekarnoputri has ordered National Intelligence Agency chief A.M. Hendropriyono to take charge of coordinating the antidrug activities undertaken by all state institutions. So far, this job has been the responsibility of the National Narcotics Coordination Agency (BKNN), which was inaugurated in July 2000 by Megawati, the then vice president. The BKNN, which is directed by Comr. Gen. Da'i Bachtiar, was founded after the government learned that between 1997 and 1999 the number of drug abuse cases had risen by 100 percent. The BKNN is answerable directly to the President. [continues 449 words]
Nowhere in the world is the practice of harm reduction, as explained in the accompanying article, uncontroversial. For a start, even those among us who understand the basics of drug use and abuse often find it difficult to appreciate the logic of providing substitute drugs or clean needles to drug addicts. Surely we are trying to cure them of their addiction, not sustain them in their habit? But the fact is, even the best-run drug treatment centers have a very low success rate. Some may claim that they "cure" a large percentage of those they accept, although such figures are often questionable. But even if correct, that leaves at least half with their habit, continuing to use drugs. Should we ignore them? [continues 807 words]
Indonesia now faces a serious threat from HIV among its rapidly increasing number of injecting drug users (IDUs). A recent report from Monitoring the AIDS Pandemic (MAP) Network notes a stark increase of HIV levels among Indonesian IDUs from 15 percent in 1999 to 40 percent in 2000, followed by an equivalent increase of HIV levels among sex workers. It will soon be followed by an increase of HIV among the general population, including pregnant women, just like in Thailand. In 1987, HIV in Thailand grew from less than 1 percent to more than 40 percent of IDUs in just 10 months. Within five to six years in the northeast of Thailand, one in six male military recruits and one in eight pregnant women had become infected. Now, almost 2 percent of the Thai population is infected. [continues 833 words]
LONDON (JP): The dam burst last weekend. There had been cracks in the consensus and growing trickles of dissent, but suddenly the issue of legalizing the use of marijuana (cannabis) is in a major country -- and an English-speaking one, at that. In Spain, Italy, Portugal, and Switzerland it is practically impossible to get arrested for buying or using "soft drugs". In the Netherlands, users may buy up to five grams of cannabis or hashish for private use at 1,500 licensed "coffee shops," and they are opening two drive-through outlets in the border town of Venlo to cater to German purchasers. Even in Canada, Conservative leader and former prime minister Joe Clark is openly calling for the decriminalization of cannabis. But that is still far short of what Sir David Ramsbotham, the outgoing Chief Inspector of Prisons, suggested last Sunday in Britain. [continues 1459 words]
JAKARTA (JP): Few people in Indonesia can now be unaware that we face a major threat from drugs. Hardly a day goes by without a report of a drug seizure, arrest of a trafficker, or a death by overdose. We are seeing wider evidence of our young people turning to injecting themselves with heroin or other illicit drugs. And slowly the size of the problem of transmission of HIV and AIDS that this brings is becoming more apparent. Last month, the Ministry of Health reported another 59 cases of HIV and AIDS resulting from injecting drug use. Now, this is the cause of one in four of the reported cases of infection, up from less than one in a hundred less than two years back. [continues 187 words]
JAKARTA (JP): Noted psychiatrist Dadang Hawari proposed on Saturday an integrated system -- a combination of medical, psychological and religious therapies -- to effectively cure drug addicts and reduce the percentage of relapse. Dadang said the existing system has failed to provide satisfactory results. "Many programs offered only focus on the medical aspect. Sometimes, the addicts are caged and made unconscious," he told a seminar here. The number of drug addicts in the country is reported to be around 1.3 million, with a mortality rate of 17.16 percent. [continues 473 words]
Inside Indonesia
