COVER STORY
That said , many have taken the initiative to reduce the number of drug users in Indonesia . We interviewed a young woman whose anti-drug campaigns have made significant contribution to the community , and to reflect on some of the important lessons that have learned in her noble journey .
CHLOE PURNAMA
Chloe Purnama ’ s main focus has been on advocating for drug awareness and prevention through her anti-drug campaign , Speak Up Indonesia . She was motivated to start this campaign after witnessing first-hand on how drugs ruined the lives of many children in Jakarta . Recently , she was appointed by the Chairman of BAKORNAS GMDM - an organization under the Indonesian National Narcotics Agency - as their Ambassador , tasked with promoting awareness of drugs among schools in Indonesia to prevent drug abuse amongst students . As an additional part of her campaign , she has also created an online public speaking competition aimed at emphasizing drug awareness and prevention , which had over 350 applicants . She has held more than 250 anti-drug & youth leadership seminars across schools , orphanages and slum areas in Indonesia .
Talking to us , Chloe gave staggering statistics of narcotic use in Indonesia , especially in children and youths . According to the data from the news as released by BNN ( the anti-narcotics division of the Indonesian Police Department ), there are reported at least 5 million drug users in the country and 1.2 million of which are residing in Jakarta . In our city , 10 % of the populations are using drugs . She emphasizes the need to say that the future of our country depends of the next generation . Fascinated by her passion as being a global citizen of this nation , I looked into her organization , “ Speak Up Indonesia ”, and asked how her program reduces drug use in ways that other programs cannot : “ Speak-Up Indonesia under the PIONIR organization is started by youth and targeting on youth empowerment . From years of experiences in giving anti-drug seminars at schools throughout Indonesia , one fact stands out . When the youths are the ones speaking , the students are listening . They are engaging in the conversations with the speakers . From interviews conducted after the seminars , students admit that when youths are doing the talk , they do not feel patronized . They can totally relate to the speakers and feel unrestricted to discuss . They feel that the speakers understand them better . And at the end , they feel that they have role models to aim for the better future .”
Chloe faces numerous challenges in her fight against nationwide drug usage , primarily in that people they are comfortable with , such as friends at school or strangers that innocently offer something to them lure many of the drug users into usage . For instance , drugs nowadays come in the form of candy , mushroom chips , brownies , cookies , cakes , flavored drinks , and many more creations that look incredibly tempting to these unsuspecting victims . In many cases in Jakarta , there have been found that these brownies have led those who started as innocent teenagers to end up in prostitution and human trafficking in a very short time in order to get more drugs from the ensnared addictions .
These cunning wars are hard to avoid even for the intelligent youths who are already deliberately staying away from drugs . Most students do not suspect their own classmates . And this method has found victims from all kinds of upbringings and levels of economy , from the poorest to the richest . It is extremely challenging to stay away from it because it does not discriminate any races , religions , ages , educational backgrounds , and standards of living .
A major adversity faced in combatting the drug war is government policy . The law and death penalty in this country do not scare away these addicts , primarily because Indonesian law is considerably lenient towards drugs . Most victims aren ’ t aware of the drugs inside certain common food products , especially children . They need to be aware of the danger of drugs ; reminded constantly until they begin
10 THE LINK JANUARY 2018