BNN's
latest data suggest lower number of Indonesian drug users than previously
claimed by President Joko Widodo
Jakarta Globe, Erwida Maulia, Mar 10, 2015
Jakarta. Amid accusations that Indonesia has used faulty data to justify its executions of drug convicts on death row, the National Narcotics Agency, or BNN, suggested a modest decline in narcotics use in the country on Tuesday when it presented the latest relevant figures.
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| New figures from the National Narcotics Agency, or BNN, suggest a slightly declining pattern of drug use in Indonesia. (Antara Foto/Saptono) |
Jakarta. Amid accusations that Indonesia has used faulty data to justify its executions of drug convicts on death row, the National Narcotics Agency, or BNN, suggested a modest decline in narcotics use in the country on Tuesday when it presented the latest relevant figures.
Bachtiar
Tambunan, the deputy chief for community empowerment at BNN, said an estimated
four million Indonesians were users of narcotics. This is a correction — albeit
not drastic — to the figure that President Joko Widodo often cited to support
his claims of Indonesia being in a state of emergency due to the supposedly
high prevalence of drug abuse in the country.
Joko, in
defense of his rejection of clemency appeals by drug convicts on death row, has
said that 4.5 million out of 250 million Indonesians were drug users and that
between 40 and 50 people died every day in the country because of drug abuse.
Bachtiar on
Tuesday said Joko’s figures were based on data from a few years back. Last
year, though, BNN conducted another joint study with the University of
Indonesia (UI)’s Health Research Center, and the result showed a new estimate
of 4 million drug-using Indonesians as well as a death rate estimated at 33
succumbing per day because of drug use.
BNN divides
Indonesian drug users into three categories: those who have “ever tried” using
drugs, totaling approximately 1.6 million people; “regular” users who number
1.4 million; and drug addicts who add up to 943,000 people. Men still dominate
the statistics, representing 74.5 percent of the total number, while women
account for just 25.5 percent.
The
mortality rate is based on a combined number of deaths due to overdose, polydrug
use — when two or more drugs are used at the same time or on the same occasion
— and deaths because of relapse after a long hiatus, Bachtiar explained.
The BNN
deputy chief added that marijuana, crystal methamphetamine and ecstasy pills
remained the most popular products among Indonesian narcotics users. These
users are estimated to consume a total of 14 million ecstasy pills per year,
and use marijuana or crystal meth a total of 158 million and 219 million times
per year, respectively.
“That is
why we call this [drug situation] a state of emergency. During the past couple
of months alone, BNN has seized more than one metric ton of crystal meth,”
Bachtiar claimed. He added that children as young as 10 years old had been
identified as drug users.
“The age of
drug users ranges from ten to 59 years old,” Bachtiar said, citing several
findings over the past few years on drug use by elementary school students in
several regions, including Jakarta, Bekasi, Medan and Jambi.
Economic
loss from narcotics problems in Indonesia is estimated to have reached Rp 63
trillion ($4.8 billion) last year, he added.
Bachtiar
further said Indonesia’s problems with narcotics use continued to grow because
of a number of factors, including law enforcement officers’ inability to
distinguish drug users from traffickers, resulting in many who fall into the
first category being sent to prison instead of rehab.
“And that
worsens the situation. Because when sent to penitentiaries, drug users will
learn how to traffic drugs from drug dealers, including foreigners, who have
vast experience in inter-city and international trafficking,” Bachtiar
asserted.
“Narcotics
business generates quite a large sum of money so they can easily lure law
enforcement officers [to help the business]…. Imprisoned drug dealers are often
still involved in the drug trade [outside jail],” he added.
Bachtiar
also said the development of rehab centers for drug addicts had been largely
abandoned, adding that the government only began paying attention to this
matter two years ago.
Indonesia
this year is targeting to send 100,000 drug users to rehab.
“The
president actually wants 400,000 people to be sent to rehab, but we don’t have
enough rehab facilities yet. So rehabilitating 400,000 users will be our target
for next year.”
Furthermore,
Bachtiar threw his weight behind the death penalty for drug traffickers, saying
he believed it could have a deterrent effect but only “if carried out
consistently.”
Joko in
December last year said that he had received clemency appeals from 64 inmates
on death row in Indonesia, including drug and murder convicts, and that he
would reject all of them.
This led to
the executions of six inmates in January, including five foreigners, ending
Indonesia’s unofficial moratorium on executions of death-row inmates.
The second
round of executions of ten inmates – also mostly foreigners — was originally
scheduled for last month but has been delayed following requests for review
filed by some of the convicts.
Amid
escalating diplomatic tension with several countries, including with Brazil and
Australia, due to the executions or planned executions of their citizens,
Indonesia’s Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi repeatedly defended the Indonesian
president’s war against drug crimes through capital punishment.
“There may
be an impression as if we were happy [with the executions],” Retno said during
a meeting with local media representatives in her office in Jakarta on Tuesday.
“I must
emphasize that we’re not happy doing this. We don’t enjoy doing this. But this
is the stance that the government is forced to take in order to enforce the
law,” she added.
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