In an official statement released here on Tuesday, Soesatyo said that drug use is a serious problem that does not only affect individuals, but also their families, the community, and the state as a whole.
Not only youngsters, but even older adults have begun using drugs and need to be protected from their negative effects.
Soesatyo issued the statement in response to a recent case of hundreds of residents in Mulyajana village, Kutawaluya sub-district, Karawang district, West Java, getting addicted to Hexymer and Tramadol drugs. The residents consuming the drugs ranged from elementary school children to older adults.
According to him, law enforcers must take firm action against drug dealers trading those drugs and investigate the case to uncover the individuals and networks involved in it.
"This effort is needed as a form of government and apparatus' seriousness in eradicating the distribution and abuse of narcotics and illicit drugs," he said.
He also asked educational institutions to cooperate and unite with central and regional governments in fighting drug abuse as well as ensure that home and school environments are safe and healthy.
Data provided by the BNN in the Indonesia Drugs Report 2022 divided drug users into three age groups: 15–24, 25–49, and 50–64.
Of the three groups, people from the 25–49 age group recorded the highest consumption of drugs in 2021.
The prevalence of people in the 25–49 age bracket who had used drugs reached 3 percent in 2021. Meanwhile, the prevalence of those who had used drugs for a year stood at 2.02 percent.
The second largest user group was the 50–64 age group. The prevalence of people in the age group that had used drugs and used drugs for a year was 2.17 percent and 1.88 percent, respectively.
In the 15–24 age bracket, the prevalence of people who had used drugs and used drugs for a year was 1.96 percent and 1.87 percent, respectively.
Furthermore, based on gender, there were more male drug users than female users. The BNN data also showed that there were more users in urban areas than in rural areas.
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Translator: Narda Margaretha, Raka Adji
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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