House of Worship Can Rehabilitate Drug Addicts

Jakarta (Antara) - The National Narcotics Agency (BNN) has said houses of worship can be used as places to rehabilitate narcotics addicts, similar to the Notifiable Addict Institution (IPWL). "For instance, in Thailand, monasteries can serve as places for rehabilitating narcotics addicts. Basically, narcotics addiction is a problem that can be related to faith in God," Brig. Gen. Ida Utari, the director of the Government Agency Rehabilitation Institution Development of the BNN, observed at a dialog forum here on Tuesday. She noted that narcotics addicts must be rehabilitated in places where they feel comfortable, such as mosques or churches. Ida remarked that the BNN has 314 IPWLs, while the number of drug addicts had reached four million in 2011. Drug addicts can personally seek the IPWLs' help to free themselves from narcotics. "An addict will first have to take a urine test. If tested positive, the agency will conduct an assessment and may ask him/her to join the rehabilitation program," she added. (*)