From the total number of drug users in the country, one third of them have even been infected by HIV/AIDSPamekasan, E Java (ANTARA News) - Indonesia has at least five million drug users. About 1.5 million of them are teenagers, an anti-addictive drug campaigner said.
"From the total number of drug users in the country, one third of them have even been infected by HIV/AIDS," the National Narcotics Agency (BNN) campaigner Andi Prawira said.
Speaking here Saturday, Andi Prawira said this reality had put Indonesia into a big disaster. "This is no more a big problem for us but it has become a big disaster for this country`s generations," he said.
The biggest number of drug users were found in the country`s capital city, Jakarta, followed by West Java and East Java provinces, he said.
For those drug users, the next threat was HIV/AIDS due to the nature of their habits, such as using unsterilized needles, he said.
The government and other related stakeholders in the society need to pay more serious attentions to the early handling of addictive drug problem and spread of HIV/AIDS, he said.
Indonesia is among a number of Asian countries being seriously threatened by drug smuggling syndicates.
Millions of drug users the country come from various social and professional backgrounds, including artists, musicians, students, politicians, and even policemen.
In protecting young Indonesians from drugs, the police keep monitoring and foiled the drug smugglers` activities.(*)
Editor: Aditia Maruli Radja
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