Government Accelerates Rehabilitation Program for Drug Abuse Victims

Jakarta – The government continues to intensify rehabilitation efforts for drug abuse victims.

Coordinating Minister for Law, Human Rights, Immigration, and Corrections, Yusril Ihza Mahendra, revealed that President Prabowo Subianto has prepared a Reserve Component (Komcad) for drug convicts who plan to receive amnesty.

Yusril added that many of these convicts are still of productive age. Therefore, amnesty will be given through various stages, including rehabilitation.

“It would be better if we just rehabilitate them, but Mr. Prabowo already has a program to enter Komcad, be trained in the military, then be deployed to the community in giant projects that the government is working on, such as opening agricultural land in Kalimantan and Papua,” said Yusril.

However, Yusril noted that amnesty should not be given too quickly, so as not to cause unrest in the community.

“It can’t be amnestied immediately. If it is amnestied immediately, people will come out of prison and disturb the community, and the government will be blamed. So, the funding must be ready and they must also be ready to accommodate them in the rehabilitation process,” he added.

The government is also currently collecting data on around 44,000 prisoners who can meet the requirements for amnesty, such as those involved in political cases, violations of the ITE Law, prisoners with serious illnesses or mental disorders, and drug users who are prioritized to undergo rehabilitation.

“Hopefully it won’t be too long before the amnesty can be implemented,” concluded Yusril.

Meanwhile, the Head of the National Narcotics Agency (BNN) Commissioner General of Police. Marthinus Hukom explained that drug users who report themselves or their families will not be subject to punishment. This is in accordance with the provisions of Article 54 of Law Number 35 of 2009 concerning Narcotics, which states that addicts and victims of drug abuse are required to undergo medical and social rehabilitation.

“So the state’s obligation is to provide rehabilitation when they report,” said Marthinus.

He explained that the awareness of drug users to report is a right regulated by law, which ensures they get the necessary treatment.

Marthinus also emphasized that the BNN focuses on taking action against drug networks, not users. According to him, the rehabilitation approach is more effective than arresting users, which will only address part of the problem.

“If we arrest users, we only wash the dishes of the treatment or actions of the dealers, but when we arrest the network, it means we clean up from upstream to downstream,” explained Marthinus.

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