Govt’s war on drugs is not working Sudirman Nasir  ;  The author received a PhD from the Melbourne School of Population Health at the University of Melbourne; His thesis was about drug use and he now lectures at the Faculty of Public Health, Hasanuddin

JAKARTA POST, 07 Maret 2015

                                                                                                                                     

                                                                                                                                                           

Over the last few weeks we have witnessed, or perhaps been involved in, a fierce debate about drugs and how to deal with drug abuse, drug dealing and the accompanying issues in Indonesia. The polemic in particular turned emotional, since drug use is a sensitive issue. The controversy was triggered by the execution of nine convicted drug traffickers, including foreign nationals, and the handing down of death sentences to 10 others shortly thereafter. The strict law enforcement has sparked a diplomatic row between Indonesia and several countries whose citizens were or will be executed. Unfortunately the diplomatic tension has been exploited, hindering a constructive debate about better strategies for dealing with drugs in Indonesia. While there is strong popular support for a punitive approach in the war on drugs, including the application of the death sentence, we should admit that there are parts of Indonesian society, such as social and public health activists as well as academics, who dissent. Without much fanfare, these activists and academics have worked hard to advocate an alternative, which is a more evidence-based and compassionate approach to drug issues. It is understandable that the mainstream media is reluctant to promote the different voices as a result of the current “mass hysteria” and oversimplification that the death penalty and punitive approach is a magic bullet to save Indonesia from the so-called drug emergency or to facilitate a utopian aspiration of “a free drug society”. Besides, the alternative approach has been misunderstood as condoning drug consumption and trafficking. Nevertheless, the campaign for an alternative approach should continue because there is no evidence that capital punishment is effective in deterring or reducing drug-related crimes. Instead of curbing drug dealing, abuse and related harms, the punitive approach has exacerbated the suffering of drug users and increased drug harms such as overdoses and other consequences such as widespread infections, including HIV and hepatitis C, transmitted through injection. Worse, the punitive approach usually hinders drug users’ access to social and health services they need to overcome their addiction. To better understand why the war on drugs and the punitive approach to dealing with drug-related crimes does not work, we should look more carefully at the history and the origin of the approach. The “war on drugs” is an American term commonly referred to as a campaign against drugs and for punitive measures, including military intervention and death sentences, to combat the illegal drug trade. This approach includes a combination of policies intended to discourage the production, distribution and consumption of illicit drugs. The term “war on drugs” was popularized by the US media shortly after a press conference given by former US president Richard Nixon in June 1971, the day after the release of his special message to the US congress on drug abuse, prevention and control — during which he claimed drug abuse was “public enemy number one”. It is worth noting that the message actually included allocating more federal resources to the “prevention of new addicts, and the rehabilitation of those who are addicted”, but the text unfortunately did not receive the same public attention as the “war on drugs”. Soon, many countries, including Indonesia, followed suit. After more than three decades and billions of dollars spent on the global “war on drugs”, we have collected abundant data that show the punitive approach does not work. It does not reduce availability and consumption of drugs in most countries. Open Society Foundation, for example, recorded that as the number of people in the US imprisoned for drug-related offenses has nearly doubled now from that in late 1980s, the use of drugs has actually increased and street drug prices have skyrocketed. Even worse, the unintended consequences of the punitive approach have been catastrophic. According to some estimates, hundreds of thousands of homicides in the US can be attributed to violence between criminal groups fighting for territory facilitated by drug trade. Furthermore, health epidemics in regions such as Eastern Europe and Central and Southeast Asia have worsened, i.e. the number of people living with HIV has almost tripled since 2000 and injectable drugs have been the leading mode of transmission. These cases are actually preventable, but the punitive approach frequently prevents access to life-saving services such as needle exchange and opioid substitution therapy, and drive addicted drug users away from treatment. It is worth noting a significant increase in mass incarceration in many parts of the world such as Thailand, Brazil and Iran, in which between 25 and 50 percent of all prisoners have been convicted of drug offenses. However, it should be noted that studies have shown that HIV-risk behaviors (such as the sharing of needles and other injecting equipment as well as unsafe sex) are even more common in overcrowded prisons in many countries, including Indonesia. There have been many studies that show that in many countries where alternative drug policies — such as policy reform through balancing legal with public health and social approaches — are implemented, drug addiction and crimes did not increase. In Portugal, for example, where use of all drugs is decriminalized, drug consumption did not spike as some had predicted. Furthermore, there were significant increases in the number of people accessing treatment and other services, in addition to a sharp reduction in drug-related HIV transmission. The proportion of drug offenders in the Portuguese prison system also fell from 44 percent in 1999 to 21 percent in 2008. It is therefore important to continue advocating that the Indonesian government overcome the “drug emergency” by use of a more evidence-based approach, which has proven that the punitive “war on drugs” approach and death sentences do not work. ●