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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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:

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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.

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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.

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