The Jakarta Post
INDONESIA:
President
wants tougher penalty for drug dealers
President
Megawati Soekarnoputri has called for the imposition of harsher
punishment against drug dealers in a bid to help curb the alarming
increase in drug abuse in the country, an official said on Thursday.
Speaking
to reporters after meeting the President, chairman of National Drugs
Coordinating Board Comr. Gen. Da'i Bachtiar underlined the
importance of amending the existing law on drugs and psychotropic
substances to stipulate more severe punishment for drug dealers.
"We
need to impose harsher punishment and if necessary we need to impose
the death sentence for the drug dealers as a deterrent,"
Bachtiar said quoting the President.
He
said that the death sentence for drug dealers was needed because
currently it was only imposed on drug producers.
Due
to the widespread distribution of illegal drugs, the country needs
to impose harsher punishment, he said.
"The
President expressed concern over the rise in the incidence of drug
abuse cases and suggested that there should be a national campaign
against drugs. The public should be informed about the consequences
of drug abuse," Bachtiar added.
The
country has repeatedly imposed the death sentence for drugs
producers, mostly against foreigners.
Megawati,
during her last visit to nine member countries of the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), also urged that the coming ASEAN
summit in November discuss problems related to drug abuse.
The
President also underlined the importance of handling drug abuse
cases in tandem with the effort to curb the spread of HIV/AIDS in
the country.
"Around
40 % of drug abusers finally suffer from HIV/AIDS because the
disease spreads through the sharing of used syringes among drugs
users," he said.
An
estimated 3.4 million people, or a quarter of Jakarta's total
population, are known to be drug abusers, according to data
disclosed in a survey conducted by a consortium of non-governmental
organizations, the Program for Management and Eradication of Drugs
and Narcotics Abuse (P4) in rehabilitation centers for drug addicts,
schools and public places in Jakarta last year.
In
1999 the number of estimated drug abusers stood at only 2 million
people.
|