REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, BATAM -- Indonesia faces a threat to its productive generation as a great number of young people are addicted to drugs or die of narcotics abuse every day, according to a minister.
"Indonesia is facing the threat of losing its productive generation to drug addiction. Narcotics have killed many young people," Health Minister Nila Farid Moeloek noted after opening a working meeting on health affairs here on Thursday.
According to her, the situation in Indonesia has become increasingly complex as the number of youths who were addicted to drugs or died of drug abuse was huge.
"Narcotics abuse is causing severe harm to the health of our people. It also hampers their economic growth and affects all efforts to improve the welfare of the people," the Health Minister remarked.
She expressed her agreement on the death penalty to drug lords and traffickers, which is also in line with President Joko Widodo's decision to combat drug menace.
Moeloek pointed out that sentencing drug dealers to death did not mean losing humanity as the disaster they have caused is quite serious and has put the country at a disadvantage.
Moreover, life sentence to drug offenders does not seem to have any deterrent effect.
"Drug abuse is a worthless habit. It also hampers progress in the health sector," she stressed.
The National Narcotics Agency (BNN) has predicted that the number of narcotics addicts will reach 5.1 million in 2015.
Citing that 50 Indonesians died every day of drug addiction, President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) earlier rejected the clemency petition of drug convicts on death row.
"How could they get clemency (if they) have caused the death of 50 people every day, 18 thousand every year, and left 4.5 million in a condition that require rehabilitation," he said.
Based on the BNN's data, the rise in the number of drug addicts in Indonesia continues to show an upward trend. In 2008, there were 3.3 million addicts. It rose to 4 million in 2011 and is expected to reach 5.1 million in 2015.
Taking a harsh stance against drug dealers, the government of President Joko Widodo executed six drug dealers on death row in January this year.
Besides one of its own citizens, the convicts were from Malawi, Nigeria, Vietnam, Brazil, and the Netherlands. The executions prompted Brazil and the Netherlands to recall their ambassadors in protest.
The Indonesian government's plan to execute 11 death row convicts, which include foreigners, two of whom are Australian nationals Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, has drawn resistance overseas, particularly from Australia.
Amid the protests, Indonesia will soon execute 11 convicts, nine of whom are drug convicts, including Chan and Sukumaran.
The two Australians were members of the 'Bali Nine' drug ring, a group of drug traffickers who were nabbed on April 17, 2005, in Bali while they were trying to smuggle out 8.3 kilograms of heroin worth Rp40 billion to Australia.
Ikuti Whatsapp Channel Republika