Cannabis has remained the most commonly used illicit drug in Indonesia between 2003 and 2008 followed, in 2008, by crystalline methamphetamine and ecstasy.

For the years when a trend was reported, ecstasy and crystalline methamphetamine use showed anincreasing trend. Ketamine was reported as a drug of concern for the first time in 2008, being ranked seventh, and showing a stable trend.

Data from a national survey conducted in 2004 on a sample population of 13 million estimated lifetime prevalence of drug use at 6%. Among those who ever used drugs, use of ATS accounted for 21% (i.e. 15% crystalline methamphetamine and 9% ecstasy), cannabis use was reported by 71% of users while heroin use accounted for 5% (NNB, 2005). In the most recent household survey, it was estimated that 2% of the population between 10 - 64 years of age had used an illicit drug in the past month, representing between 2.6 and 3.3 million drug users (NNB, 2009). The increasing user population also is reflected in the increase in the number of drug related arrests over the past five years.

Arrest, seizure and price data

ATS related arrests, which were primarily for crystalline methamphetamine, increased dramatically in Indonesia between 2004 and 2007, before decreasing in 2008 to the level of 2006 (Figure 34). In 2008, alcohol related arrests, which were included for the first time in arrest statistics reported to DAINAP, accounted for 37% of total drug related arrests. They were followed by arrests for cannabis and crystalline methamphetamine (29% and 21.4% respectively). Numerically, cannabis related arrests showed a six-fold increase between 2004 and 2007 from just over 3,000 arrests in 2004 to more than 18,000 in 2007, before declining in 2008 by 36.2% to 11,581. Heroin related arrests fluctuated over the past five years. The overwhelming majority of arrestees in Indonesia in 2008 were male Indonesian nationals.