Asia Times: From ecstacy to agony - Indonesia's war on drugs



	November 26, 1999	atimes.com

Southeast Asia

From ecstacy to agony - Indonesia's war on drugs
By Kafil Yamin

JAKARTA - Indonesia allows the death penalty to be meted out to convicted drug dealers, but this threat of harsh punishment seems to be doing little to discourage the rise in drug abuse in this predominantly Muslim country.

Indeed, in the last few weeks, the capital has been racked by street rallies demanding not political reforms this time, but heavier punishment and concrete action from the government to curb illegal drug use. ''Reformasi means nothing with moral and mentality collapse,'' read one banner in a recent rally staged by students here. Added a protester: ''War against drugs is much more important than issues [like] who deserves to become ministers.''

Before the Social Ministry was dissolved recently, it had some 130,000 drug addicts enrolled in its rehabilitation program. Even then, ministry officials said that the unrecorded number of substance abusers was at least 10 times higher, and could be as much as 1.3 million. The respected Tempo magazine also says that one in 10 Jakarta residents now uses narcotics. A hospital here that caters to substance abusers has seen an annual 50 percent rise in patients. Experts say substance abuse is increasing beyond the cities as well.

The problem cuts through social classes. According to sociologists, slum-dwellers are getting hooked to addictive substances as much as people from the higher social strata.

A few experts say that, at least among the young, one reason for the rise in drug abuse is because of the need to be fashionable. ''Some of our youths feel they are part of the trend if they take drugs,'' says Bulan Trisna Djelantik, a psychiatrist. ''If he or she takes ecstasy or 'shabu-shabu', then they feel they are part of the modern world.''

Domestically-grown and readily-available marijuana is being overtaken by other substances: ecstasy has become a fixture in the dance clubs popular among artists, young executives and students. 'Shabu-shabu' is methamphetamine hydrochloride, and is known as 'ice' in the United States.

Having such a habit does not come cheap by Indonesian standards. A packet of marijuana can cost some 25,000 rupiah or a slightly less than $3, while one ecstasy pill can have a price tag of 75,000 rupiah or about $10.

While some observers find such expenses appalling in a crisis- battered country, others say it is precisely because of Indonesia's dismal economic and political situation that people are turning to addictive substances. Obviously, they argue, some people are merely trying to escape everyday problems through drugs.

That substance abusers and their suppliers seem to have no real fear of being caught is blamed on on the fact that the maximum sentence on drug dealers has never been imposed. Now, the Jakarta governor has become so frustrated over the escalation of drug abuse in the capital that he now wants the death penalty as maximum punishment even for possession or use of narcotics.

But observers say that the punishment will make little difference, given that some members of Indonesia's military and police force are suspected to be part of the country's drug rings - and among the substance abusers. Says criminologist Andrianus Meliala: ''It is widely known that the security and the police, who are supposed to fight drug crime, are drug dealers and consumers.''

Just this month, a military officer was caught having a 'shabu-shabu' party in Bandung. The officer even turned out to be a division commander in the military headquarters there, leading people to become more sceptical over the authorities' abilities to handle the growing drug problem.

But perhaps the most infamous case involving an officer and drugs was that of Lieutenant Agus Isrok, a member of the much- feared Special Forces (Kompassus) and son of the then Army Chief, General Subagyo H S. In August, Agus was caught with packs of 'shabu-shabu' and 7,000 ecstasy pills at Manggabesar, a popular nightspot here in Jakarta.

Yet while the incident was a constant headline for weeks, no one now knows what has happened to the case, fueling speculation that major drug suspects never feel the full force of the law.

(Inter Press Service)

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©1999 Asia Times Online Co., Ltd.