Indonesia's aviation industry has admitted concern over widespread drug use, and the House of Representatives will summon Lion Air management after the arrest of a Lion pilot for drug use in Surabaya on Saturday, the second such case in two months.

Indonesia National Air Carriers Association secretary general Tengku Burhanuddin said the use of drugs among airline crews had tainted the industry's image, and he called on the government to take quick action to crack down on the circulation of drugs.

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WE hadn't even parked the car when the dealer saw me.

I looked like the perfect target - a fair skinned tourist with a local driver, The Daily Telegraph reported.

He smiled at me warmly, which I returned (not knowing his agenda) and when I stepped out of the car he approached me.

"You want to buy a phone?" he asked.

"No thanks," I said simply.

"A T-shirt? A T-shirt? Cocaine?" The jump from clothing to drugs confused me. So I asked him again.

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JAKARTA: Social Services Minister Salim Segaf al Jufri says legalizing marijuana may have negative effects on the nation's youth.

"I don't agree [with the idea of legalizing marijuana] because I fear it would be misused," he said Saturday as quoted by tempointeraktif.com.

A number of activists previously demanded the legalization of marijuana and recently held a rally commemorating the Global Marijuana March.

Salim added that it would be difficult to determine whether individuals found in possession of less than 1 gram of contraband were first-time users.

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The Nationwide Marijuana Circle (LGN) staged a march on Saturday to campaign for the legalization of marijuana in the country.

They marched around the Tugu Tani monument in Central Jakarta.

"What we want as our first step is for the government to provide objective information about marijuana," LGN chair Dhira Narayana said at the march.

"People need to be informed that marijuana can be used to cure cancer. Marijuana also does not trigger any addiction that is more dangerous than coffee or tea," he said.

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Convinced that marijuana could be used for medical purposes, a group in Jakarta is campaigning to promote legalization.

The group called Lingkar Ganja Nusantara (Nusantara Marijuana Network) said that for decades, society has had misperceptions about marijuana, and the alleged ills that it may potentially cause, without ever looking into its potential benefits.

"If we explore further, cannabis actually has more benefits than negative effects on humans," said network chairman Irwan Syarif.

Irwan said that for medical purposes, marijuana could be used in cancer treatment procedures and could also work as an anti-inflammation drug.

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Jakarta. The National Narcotics Agency has vowed to enhance its efforts on a recently launched initiative that involves seizing drug convicts' assets to prevent them from running drug operations from behind bars.

Comr. Gen. Gorries Mere, who heads the agency known as the BNN, pointed out on Monday that the seizure of assets belonging to convicted drug traffickers and dealers was regulated by the 2009 Anti-Narcotics Law.

"We have started this program just this year, with one or two cases at first.

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The Jakarta Police are considering handing narcotics producers and traffickers hefty fines rather than locking them up, arguing that imprisonment did not appear to be an effective deterrent and was getting too costly for the state.

Jakarta Police chief Insp. Gen. Sutarman said that fines and confiscation of property were believed to be better strategies for dealing with drug-related crime, both by users and traffickers.

"All money they've got should be confiscated by the state. They don't need to be put in prison. Since they don't have money anymore, they won't be able to buy [drugs] again." Sutarman said.

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SCHAPELLE Corby doesn't think about the world outside the walls of her Bali jail often any more and says she no longer has much hope she will be freed any time soon.

But with tears welling in her eyes during an exclusive interview outside her cell at Bali's Kerobokan Jail yesterday, she told how she still puts make-up on every day to make herself feel better.

And she showed the intricate beaded necklaces and bracelets she makes to fill in time and keep active.

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Youth and Sports Minister Adhyaksa Dault revealed Saturday evening that 15,000 Indonesians die of drug-related illnesses each year.

"That's not even accounting the growth of HIV/AIDS patients; a social tsunami in and of itself, since what we know is only the tip of the iceberg," Adhyaksa said, as quoted by kompas.com on Sunday.

He argued that the increasing number of drug abuse and people infected with HIV/AIDS were major issues facing all societal elements.

A concerted effort to quell the two problems is needed, Adhyaksa said, adding that cigarette smoking was one of the avenues that eventually lead to drug abuse.

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An anti-drug message from the Indonesian President to be broadcast by text message is expected to cause disruptions in cellular-phone text-messaging services in the country for more than 30 hours starting Tuesday afternoon.

A spokesperson for the Postal and Telecommunications Directorate General, Gatot S. Dewa Broto said in a Tuesday press release the 160-character message will be sent to every user of cellular phones and fixed-wireless phones in the country.

"We are making this announcement to prevent public misunderstandings during those hours, when telecommunication services may be disrupted," he said.

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JAKARTA, Indonesia -- This country has resumed executions for serious drug crimes after a four-year hiatus, and Indonesia's attorney general has warned drug offenders on death row that their executions may now be accelerated.

The resumption follows a decision last year by Indonesia's Constitutional Court that upheld the death penalty for serious drug offenses.

Two Nigerians convicted of drug trafficking were the first to be executed for drug crimes after the long break. The two, Samuel Iwachekwu Okoye and Hansen Anthony Nwaliosa, were put to death on June 26.

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Speakers at a seminar in Depok on Saturday said drug laws needed to place more of an emphasis on rehabilitation for users and stop treating addicts the same as traffickers and dealers.

Drug laws, according to an official from the Health Ministry, criminalize drug users, treating them like traffickers, which in turn undermines efforts aimed at rehabilitation.

The ministry's director for the development of mental health, Aminullah, said drug users require special treatment to help them break their addiction.

However, he said many users were too afraid to seek treatment because the police targeted them for arrest and criminal prosecution.

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According to Octavery "Very" Kamil, head of the Injecting Drug Users Intervention Unit at Aksi Stop AIDS! (ASA) of Family Health International-Jakarta, a major challenge in the battle against the negative health and societal problems of drug abuse is the heavy stigma placed on users of any kind of illegal drug -- when in fact there are many different kinds of drugs, some of which are more likely to lead to addiction and other problems.

The National Police campaign, which uses slogans implying that any use of any kind of drug will ruin one's life, is neither accurate nor effective, according to Very.

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Since the 1970s, Indonesia has been active in the areas of supply reduction and demand reduction to control the importation, distribution, sale and use of illicit drugs, including heroin, marijuana and, since the 1990s, methamphetamines and ecstasy.

In 2001, the National Narcotics Coordinating Agency (BKNN) was restructured as the National Narcotics Agency (BNN). The vision of the BNN is to achieve an Indonesia free of drug abuse and trafficking by 2015, which is in line with the country's commitment to the regional goal of a drug-free ASEAN by the same year.

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While drug abuse is a broad problem encompassing many potential causes and consequences, both personal and societal, the problem of associated HIV infection is becoming one of the primary concerns due to the rapidly rising proportion of HIV/AIDS cases that are linked to injecting drug use.

According to a 2005 study by the National Narcotics Board (BNN) and the University of Indonesia, approximately 1.5 percent of Indonesia's population (3.2 million people) abuse drugs; 25 percent of them by injecting. Furthermore, 60 percent of these injecting drug users (IDUs) are estimated to be infected with HIV.

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While many teens and young adults are kept busy with homework or a job, school and social activities, many also find themselves with time on their hands and not much to do except to gather with friends on street corners, at malls or billiard halls.

Young people often find themselves experiencing pressure from peers to try something they might not be ready for, not comfortable with, or even afraid of, like cigarettes, alcohol, shoplifting, sex and drugs.

Serious social problems like drug abuse, crime and unwanted pregnancies are affecting teens and young adults directly. In major cities like Jakarta and others, they face hard choices every day, and may be feeling pressures or urges that adults can't comprehend.

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Kapanlagi.com Anti Narkoba (Kapanlagi.com is against drugs) reads a sticker on the dashboard of a yellow angkot (public minibus) in Bandung, 160 kilometers southeast of Jakarta.

Kapanlagi.com (Kapan lagi, if not now, when?) is a website that aims to prevent youth drug abuse.

With support from websites, businesses and civil society groups, Bandung, the capital of West Java, has taken its drug awareness campaign to the streets.

Karaoke clubs in the city's semi-red light district on Jl. Braga also place banners at their entranceways: No drugs. Another banner on the perimeter of the fence of the mayor's office encourages passersby to act against drug abuse and stop the spread of HIV.

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TANGERANG, Banten -- The Banten provincial Narcotics Body (BNP) on Monday conducted urine tests on all police officers in Tangerang following the arrest of a police for drugs possession.

The test began at the Jatiuwung subprecinct police station BNP team took urine samples of some 150 officers.

BNP acting chairman Fauzi Mashjur said the test would continue in 12 other subprecinct police stations in Tangerang.

"This is the first time we conduct urine test against more than 1,000 officers in the municipality," he said, adding that the urine test was expected to finish Monday afternoon.

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JAKARTA, Indonesia -- The Constitutional Court of Indonesia upheld the death penalty for serious drug offenses on Tuesday, dimming hopes of a reprieve for three Australians facing execution for trying to smuggle heroin off the resort island of Bali.

Lawyers for the three men, members of a group of Australians convicted of drug offenses who have become known as the Bali Nine, had hoped a successful constitutional challenge would add weight to their final appeal to the Supreme Court. Should that appeal fail, their last avenue would be a direct plea to Indonesia's president.

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INDONESIA'S Constitutional Court has dealt a severe blow to the Bali nine by endorsing the death penalty and the execution of drug offenders.

In a split decision, the court upheld the validity of capital punishment, rejecting pleas that it breached Indonesia's constitution and international obligations. Three of the nine-judge bench opposed the verdict.

The decision leaves the six Australians who face firing squads dependent on a last-ditch appeal to the Supreme Court, which has already upheld or imposed their death penalties.

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