Jakarta (ANTARA) - Prabowo Subianto is the first Indonesian president to make drugs combat one of the government’s priority programs, as outlined in the Asta Cita missions, National Narcotics Agency (BNN) Head Police Commissioner Gen. Marthinus Hukom stated.
"As the head of BNN, I am very grateful that for the first time a national leader has acknowledged drugs as a central issue in his priority programs,” he remarked here on Tuesday (Jan 21) evening.
In point 7 of Asta Cita, President Prabowo is committed to strengthening political, legal, and bureaucratic reforms, as well as bolstering the prevention and eradication of corruption and drugs.
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He underscored the need to implement strong and consistent policies to prevent and address corruption and drug issues.
According to Hukom, this mission is where the BNN must play its role.
However, he noted that combating drugs is replete with challenges due to Indonesia’s open geographical landscape, making it susceptible to intervention from drug dealers entering the country.
"In addition, societal conditions make the drug issue even more complicated," he remarked.
Drug abuse continues to be a pressing challenge in Indonesia, with around 3.3 million individuals in the age group of 15-64 years being affected and a prevalence rate of 1.73 percent documented in 2023, according to BNN data.
Consequently, Hukom emphasized three moral standings as the basis for tackling drug abuse, comprising viewing drug crimes as a threat to humanity and human civilization, given the high number of drug abusers.
Second, taking repressive action against drug syndicate networks. He emphasized that law enforcement must focus on dismantling drug networks as a whole rather than merely targeting perpetrators at the user level.
The third is adopting a humanist approach towards drug users. According to Hukom, law enforcers should start changing the paradigm that drug users are victims in need of medical and social rehabilitation and not merely perpetrators.
