DATA SHOWS STUDENTS TAKING ILLICIT DRUGS ON THE RISE

Despite a nationwide anti-drug drive, the country continues to see
more cases of drug use by schoolchildren, a top anti-drugs campaigner
said Tuesday.

"The number of illegal drug users continues to increase annually, with
81,702 of them students of elementary, junior high and senior high
schools," head of the Narcotics Abuse Prevention Center at the
National Narcotics Agency (BNN) Insp. Gen. Mudji Waluyo, said as
quoted by Antara, in Samarinda, East Kalimantan.

He was referring to 2006 data collected by the agency across the
country.

Addressing a seminar on the Use of Information Technology in the
Campaign against Drug Abuse and Trafficking, which was held in the
auditorium of the East Kalimantan Governor's Office, Mudji said the
agency recorded a total of 8,449 elementary school students who had
used drugs last year. It was nearly a 400-percent increase from the
2005 figure of 2,542 students.

An even greater increase of drug abuse, however, was recorded among
students of junior high and senior high schools, he said, citing
figures that showed a total of 73,253 students from both junior high
and senior high schools had taken illegal drugs last year.

It was much higher than the 2004 figure of 9,206 users among high
school students and the 2005 figure of 19,489 students.

"All those figures show us how rampant drug abuse is among students in
Indonesia," Mudji said.

Quoting the survey conducted by the BNN, Mudji said 86 percent of
respondents said that they had consumed drugs due to the influence of
their environment, another 74.15 percent said that they had used drugs
just for fun and another 70 percent said that they had turned to drugs
to escape from authoritarian treatment at home or at school.

The agency also recorded that 51.14 percent of the respondents had
consumed drugs under the influence of their peers and another 47.15
percent said that they had been influenced by movies and television
shows.

Mudji expressed hope that all related institutions, including the
families of drug users, would join hands in saving the country's youth
from drug abuse.

Quoting the same survey by BNN, he said families played an important
role in the prevention of drug abuse among teenagers.

He said that 59 percent of respondents had said that being set a good
example by parents was the most effective way to prevent teenagers
from using drugs.

Another 47 percent of the respondents said that effective religious
teachings at home played a significant role in preventing drug abuse
among youths, followed by 32.44 percent who emphasized the
implementation of disciplinary measures at home, and 28.32 percent,
who said that a harmonious family relationship helped prevent such
abuse.