TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - A number of activists with the Criminal Code Reformation Alliance expressed their rejection related to the inclusion of the narcotics articles in the Criminal Code (KUHP). They revealed three reasons behind the rejection.
"First, drug users need rehabilitation, instead of prison sentence," said Community Legal Aid Institute (LBH Masyarakat) analyst Yohan Misero in Jakarta, on Friday, January 19.
Read: Sri Mulyani: Illegal Drugs Hamper Economy
According to Yohan, judges can consider rehabilitation for drug users based on the current law on narcotics. Meanwhile, should the articles on narcotics be included in the Criminal Code, the law would no longer be applicable.
Second, Yohan argues that the inclusion will hamper narcotics reform endeavors. According to Yohan, narcotics issues must be addressed from all aspects.
Read: BNN Works with Transportation Ministry to Prevent Drug Smuggling
The third reason, Yohan added, is related to the urgency of the need to include the article in the Criminal Code, “in addition to the parliament and experts’ wishes to pass the legislation.”
The House of Representatives (DPR) is currently discussing the introduction of narcotics articles in the Criminal Code along with several other crimes, such as corruption. The law on narcotics itself has not been revised yet, but the DPR intends to include it in the Criminal Code.
M. YUSUF MANURUNG