“The war against drugs must follow a health-oriented approach, while treatment for drug users should be more humane and in accordance with their respective wrongdoings. The key is: provide support and do not punish,” Samsu Budiman, Brotherhood of Indonesian Drug Victims (PKNI) chairman, said at the launch of Anomali Kebijakan Narkotika (Anomalies in Narcotics Policy), a book written by narcotics experts and activists dedicated to reforming narcotics policy, on Sunday.

In reality, however, there is a tendency among law enforcers to prioritize imposing criminal law in punishing drug users rather than focusing on medical treatment for the advancement of public health and science as well as to cut the supply-and-demand chain of drugs.

“Indonesia has been taking the ‘wrong’ steps in reducing demand for drugs,” Alfiana Qisthi, coauthor of the book, told the media on Sunday.

She explained how the government used a repressive approach in its attempt to stop the cycle, such as compulsory rehabilitation, imprisonment and the death penalty.

Reducing the demand for drugs, according to Alfiana, should mean preventing drug use, which could be accomplished through education and information dissemination.

“Counseling is needed for early or nondependent users, while treatment and rehabilitation are for users who have reached the addiction phase. The problem here is that they [drug users] are being generalized and must be rehabilitated,” she said.

Rehabilitation itself should be based on the individual assessment of each user as there is no single method for different users.

“Medical treatment and rehabilitation are key, just like other medical treatments for other people or diseases,” Alfiana said.

Experts also viewed the government’s plan to revise Law No. 35/2009 on narcotics as something that could perpetuate the criminalization of drugs, especially as the National Narcotics Agency (BNN) is seeking more authority in performing its tasks.

Yohan Misero, another coauthor of the book, shared his concern regarding the issue, particularly over the government’s plan to transfer the authority of classifying drugs from the Health Ministry to the BNN.

Yohan, an advocate with the Community Legal Aid Institute (LBH Masyarakat), said the plan was flawed because the BNN should focus on law enforcement, not public health issues.

In the 2009 Narcotics Law, there were 65 types of drugs (Group I) banned by the government for medical use. Ten years after the law was enacted, another 90 drugs have been added to the banned list.

“Without thoroughly examining each drug [for its medicinal value], many of them were seen [by the government] as not having medical value,” Yohan said, adding that government only adhered to United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes early warning recommendations.

For prevention purposes, Samsu said the government should implement a multi-approach policy as the vicious cycle of drug abuse was multifaceted and not merely about supply and demand. He called on the government to consider sociological, psychological and legal approaches in coming up with a more comprehensive policy.

Another writer, Miko Ginting from Jentera Law School, said the desired change in policy could possibly reduce the state budget for law enforcement and put the government as a healthcare guarantor.

He praised the joint effort between the BNN and Health Ministry in optimizing an integrated assessment team (TAT) for drug users.

“Drug users [who were caught] will undergo medical assessment, the results of which will determine whether they will be rehabilitated or not and whether they are categorized as dealers of not,” Miko told The Jakarta Post separately on Sunday. “If they were a dealer, they could face prosecution.”

International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking is commemorated on June 26. (asp)

Popular

To my horror, it’s just a movie!

RI, Australia strengthen partnership on taxing crypto assets

Pentagon chief congratulates Prabowo on being elected President