Drug abuse costs Rp 55 trillion

The National Narcotics Agency (BNN) said on Monday that drug abuse in Indonesia cost an estimated Rp 55 trillion (US$5.61 billion) in 2012.
“The economic costs of drug abuse include substance-abuse related spending, health care, and loss of productivity,” said BNN information director, Gun Gun Siswandi in Medan, North Sumatra, as quoted by Antara news agency.
“You can imagine if such a huge amount of money was used to develop schools, universities, hospitals, roads, and bridges, or to create job opportunities for unemployed people,” he added.
Gun Gun said that with such large amount of money associated with illicit drug use, it was no surprise that drug trafficking could attract almost everyone to take part in the business either as producers or dealers, as well as the users.
The BNN confiscated illicit drugs worth Rp 28 billion in 2012.
Indonesia is now home to four million drug addicts from different backgrounds and all ages, the agency found in joint research with the University of Indonesia. (asw/ebf)