According
to Octavery "Very" Kamil, head of the
Injecting Drug Users Intervention Unit at Aksi
Stop AIDS! ( ASA ) of Family Health International-Jakarta,
a major challenge in the battle against the negative
health and societal problems of drug abuse is
the heavy stigma placed on users of any kind of
illegal drug -- when in fact there are many different
kinds of drugs, some of which are more likely
to lead to addiction and other problems.
The National Police campaign, which uses slogans
implying that any use of any kind of drug will
ruin one's life, is neither accurate nor effective,
according to Very. For example, Very relates an
interview with an injecting drug user ( IDU ):
"In 2000, ( the user ) had already seen ads
and posters about ( the National Police campaign
). But he had already tried ganja ( marijuana
) and ecstasy by then and felt no addiction or
problem, so he didn't believe the message. So
then he tried heroin, and eventually became an
addict."
The issue of drug abuse thus concerns both the
availability of the drugs and the dissemination
of incomplete or inaccurate public education messages.
Asked for a better, alternative message, Very
replied: "What is addiction? It doesn't happen
in a moment. It's a process." More realistic
information is the key -- and people need to know
about the different types of drugs available.
Heroin and shabu-shabu ( methamphetamine ), Very
says, were more likely to leave one with withdrawal
symptoms, and thus more likely to lead to addiction
and associated problems. This includes HIV infection,
due to the tendency to use these drugs by injection
to get a faster and more cost-efficient hit.
Very suggested that more efficient approaches
might include "life skills education"
programs at schools or in youth groups that teach
young people skills for making better decisions
in life. Overall, he says, drug prevention programs
( the demand reduction side of the equation )
in Indonesia are generally still weak. While some
very good programs exist, including those implemented
by Yayasan Cinta Anak Bangsa ( YCAB ) and Yayasan
Kita ( Yakita ), their reach is not yet broad
enough. "Drug education for students and
young people is important," he said, "but
it must be non-stigmatizing, and it must not ignore
the fact that many high school students have already
used drugs." A 2002 behavioral survey among
high school students in Jakarta, implemented by
the Health Ministry with technical and financial
support from the ASA, reported that 34.2 percent
of boys and 6.3 percent of girls had never used
any drugs, while 2.5 percent and 0.6 percent,
respectively, reported use by injecting. Surprisingly,
alcohol use was lower, at 29.8 percent and 4.3
percent, respectively. Very is emphatic that,
despite campaign messages implying that anyone
who tries drugs has ruined their life, "We
must not give up on those people". Information
must be given to young people about what to do
if a friend or sibling is using and needs help.
He added that while in the United States, the
old "Just Say No!" approach to drug
education had been replaced by a more moderate
"Safety First" approach, Indonesia's
approach was still largely modeled on "Just
Say No!". Determining the success rate of
supply reduction and demand reduction efforts
here is difficult, since various indicators can
be used to judge this. According to Very, however,
these efforts are still very minimal. "The
fact is, drugs are still a big problem in Indonesia.
Actually, internationally this is also the case,"
he said. "As yet, there has been no mainstream
global policy on drugs that has demonstrated success."
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