Indonesian Children Are Victims of Lucrative Narcotics Market

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com – Children in Indonesia continue to be the victims of the lucrative narcotics market, Indonesia’s Ministry of Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection revealed on World Drug Day 2020.

“Children are often viewed as the target by the lucrative narcotics market particularly for drug abuse. Due to their age, children are in search of their identity and are easily persuaded,” said Lenny N Rosalin, Deputy Head of Children’s Development at the Ministry of Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection on June 26.

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Lenny shared a finding where children who were exposed to drugs are likely to become long-term drug users. Such likelihood puts the future generation in jeopardy during both the short term and long term.

Lenny continued by sharing that there are currently several methods used on Indonesian children in getting them involved in narcotics.

A 2018 Survey on Narcotics Abuse and Black Market indicated that the prevalence rate of drug use among students or university students stood at 3.2 percent.

That comprised of 2.3 million of the survey respondents.

“That is why parents must be on guard in monitoring their children so as to keep them away from the dangers of narcotics,” said Lenny.

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To prevent the dangers of narcotics from reaching children in Indonesia, the Head of Children’s Development at the Ministry of Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection is working with Indonesia’s National Narcotics Agency.

The partnership will be on information dissemination as well as through information communication and education channels.

These efforts are specifically conducted as it aims to increase the understanding of children and families of the dangers of narcotics use, according to Lenny.

Narcotics data in Indonesia

Data from the National Narcotics Agency showed that Indonesia had 3,376,115 drug abusers between the ages of 10 and 59 years old in 2017.

In 2019, drug abusers among children and teenagers in Indonesia increased 24 to 28 percent. The surge was attributed to relations with friends.

The finding was in line with data indicating 92.6 percent of drug users gained their first access to drugs from their friends. 80 percent of those drug users received it for free.

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The data for children showed 40.5 percent of children tried drugs for the first time out of curiosity.

Around 35.2 percent of the children surveyed said it was the result of a friend’s suggestion.

“The increase in the number of children and teenage drug users should ring alarm bells to all parents,” said Lenny. 

(Writer: Deti Mega Purnamasari | Editor: Icha Rastika) 

Source: https://nasional.kompas.com/read/2020/06/26/17153071/kemen-pppa-anak-anak-masih-jadi-target-pasar-narkoba