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recent study has revealed that the number of victims of poisoning from bootleg liquor is higher in regions that have implemented a blanket ban on alcohol, a finding that may well serve as a warning to a government currently considering taking a more draconian stance on alcohol regulation.

The study suggests that in areas where alcohol is entirely outlawed, people are forced to risk consuming unregulated home-brewed liquor.

The Center for Indonesian Policy Studies (CIPS) recorded a strong correlation between prohibitions on alcohol and cases of poisoning from unlicensed alcohol.

The study, based on news reports since 2013 in Java, recorded that 106 people were injured or died in seven regions that did not regulate alcohol. In 12 regions that placed some control on the sale of alcohol, the number was 192, while in 11 regions that enforced a total ban on alcohol, the number of victims was 331.

Suara Kebebasan group researcher Iqbal D. Wibisono said that when the price of alcoholic drinks was forced up by higher taxes, there was a subsequent drop in demand for trade alcohol and rise in demand for unregulated non-trade alcohol.

“We should learn from other countries. A ban tends to raise consumption of unsafe liquors that usually contain a higher percentage of alcohol,” Iqbal said during a recent discussion.

World Health Organization data record that the alcohol consumption rate in Indonesia in 2010 was 0.1 liter per capita per year, while the unrecorded rate was 0.5.

Home Minister Tjahjo Kumolo has strengthened his stance against the consumption of liquor, insisting on the necessity of local bylaws preventing the spread of alcohol in each respective region.

Tjahjo’s intention to impose a total ban on the consumption of liquor goes beyond existing bylaws, which mostly restrict production, distribution and consumption.

Some regional bylaws only limit the distribution of alcoholic drinks, reacting to growing numbers of criminal cases purportedly driven by the misuse of alcohol.

Through the bylaws, several regions now only allow the sale of alcohol in particular places like hotels or bars; no shops have been allowed to sell liquor since the issuance of such regulations.

For various reasons, many regions do not restrict the sale of alcohol, but Tjahjo said he supported the decision by Papua Governor Lukas Enembe to issue and consistently implement a bylaw banning the distribution of alcohol in his province.

Patri Handoyo, the author of War on Drugs, said that a similar phenomen was observable for drugs.

“When the government bans narcotics, people then start to produce cheaper drugs, but in larger quantities, which poses a risk to human life,” Patri said.

South Sulawesi capital Makassar, which has seen a rise in criminal cases allegedly driven by alcohol consumption, is looking to use existing bylaws to control the sale and consumption of alcohol.

“We are upholding the bylaw firmly and continuously because alcohol is one of the main causes of crime,” said Makassar Mayor Mohammad Ramdhan Pomanto, adding that alcohol could in the city be sold legally only at hotels, pubs, bars and karaoke parlors.

As part of stricter measures, the city prohibits people from bringing home alcoholic drinks bought in designated places and the city has also set up a special team to monitor the distribution of alcohol.

A number of regencies in South Sulawesi have followed suit, including Maros, Bulukumba and Enrekang.

Meanwhile, the city of Pontianak in West Kalimantan has gone a step stricter than Makassar, limiting the sale of alcoholic beverages to three- and four-star hotels.

Instead of banning the distribution of alcohol, the city is also considering imposing stricter controls on alcohol in order to protect the younger generation from the negative effects of alcohol in the city.

Yogyakarta, which saw 39 people, mostly students, die after drinking bootleg alcohol in February, is also looking to maintain an existing bylaw on the control of alcohol.