More Than 1.2m Indonesians Experimenting With Drugs: Study
Jakarta. The National Narcotics Agency, or BNN, and the University of Indonesia's health center estimate that there are currently around 1.2 million experimental drug users in the archipelago.
"In 2008, there were about 850,000 experimental drug users, with the number rising to 1.1 million in 2011 and continuing to go up, to more than 1.2 million now," Nurul Ilmi Idris, a professor at Hasanuddin University in Makassar, South Sulawesi, told Antara news agency on Saturday (22/10).
According to Nurul, marijuana is currently the dominant drug but heroin use has been on the rise since the mid-1990s. Prescription medicines have also become popular for experimental drug use.
However, Nurul said a shortage of heroin resulted in fewer people using it over the past few years, making it the fourth-most abused illegal substance after marijuana, methamphetamine and ecstasy.
There has been a substantial decrease in the number of people injecting themselves with illegal drugs, with the number dropping from 230,000 in 2008 to 70,000 in 2011.
"It's good news that is a decline in the number of people injecting themselves with drug, but the use of psychoactive prescription drugs has increased," Nurul said.
Prescription medications popular among teenage drug users in Makassar include antidepressants and painkillers such as somadril, subutex, subuxone, calmlet and tramadol.
Tags: Keywords: