TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - THE arrest of movie starlet and model Jennifer Dunn shows just how prone the world of celebrities is to drug abuse. This is the third time Jennifer has had dealings with law enforcers over her possession and abuse of illegal substances. Before her, in similar cases, officers arrested other celebrities: Tio Pakusadewo, Tora Sudiro, Marcello Tahitoe, Restu Sinaga, and Ridho Rhoma.
It is truly deplorable that celebrities at the peak of their careers eventually trip up and become addicted to these forbidden narcotics. Some of them do admit to using drugs to maintain alertness because of their demanding performance schedules. Some also use narcotics as an escape, for instance when their aura as a star begins to fade, or the offers for ¡®gigs dwindle and become fewer and farther in between.
The repeated arrests of celebrities in narcotics cases is a warning sign for the public at large. The celebrities addicted to narcotics do not only harm themselves since they are spreading a dangerous virus, particularly among their fans. Their fanatical admirers do not just imitate their role models, but also identify themselves with that persona, including with their dark sides.
Law enforcers need to be sharp in differentiating users from narcotics distributors or dealers. Those celebrities proven to be distributors or dealers must not be shown any mercy. In essence, they are criminals who ought to be duly punished. On the other hand, law enforcers ought to treat those not proven to be distributors as victims.
Celebrity addicts sometimes start out as victims of aggressive syndicates, unconstrained social circles, or faulty personal choices. They need to be helped to free themselves from the narcotics trap. That is the spirit of the Narcotics Law: requiring users or addicts to undergo rehabilitation.
In the long term, rehabilitation is also more effective than imprisonment. In many cases, a prison term will not deter narcotics users. What happens can, in fact, be just the opposite: in prison, the addicts mix with heavyweight criminals, including distributors. Rather than having had enough, after coming out of jail, the users become even more addicted, or may even get recruited as narcotics ring agents.
The problem is that some law officials are more enthusiastic about imprisoning narcotics users rather than rehabilitating them. What is even more dangerous is that we often hear of law enforcers taking advantage of a users rehabilitation opportunity and make that a negotiation pawn in order to reap personal gain. In order to produce a deterrent effect, any officer caught dealing in the rehabilitation option must be severely punished.
In the context of the war on narcotics, no matter how great its benefits may be, rehabilitation is only the downstream end. At the same time, law enforcement institutions must remain united and work harder to stem the flow of narcotics at the upstream end. Raids on factories or narcotics smugglers yielding stunning evidence of guilt are worthy of some appreciation. But that is just the tip of the iceberg of the narcotics distribution in this country. Underground, that portion yet to be revealed is unquestionably much larger.
Read the full article in this week's edition of Tempo English Magazine
