Preventing Drug Abuse Among Students in Indonesia: A Problem-Oriented Policing Approach

Abstract

Drug abuse among students remains a significant prevention challenge in Indonesia. Although existing responses include law enforcement, school-based prevention, community initiatives, and rehabilitation, student drug involvement is associated with multiple individual, social, family, environmental, and institutional conditions that are unlikely to be addressed through a single intervention. This article examines how Problem-Oriented Policing (POP) can be applied to strengthen the prevention of drug abuse among students in Indonesia. Using a structured narrative review of Indonesian and international literature, the study synthesises evidence on the nature and drivers of student drug abuse, existing Indonesian responses, and lessons from evaluated prevention and intervention approaches. The evidence is interpreted through the Scanning, Analysis, Response, and Assessment (SARA) problem-solving model. The review identifies three principal findings. First, student drug abuse is heterogeneous and multifactorial, requiring specific problems to be defined rather than treating student drug use as a uniform phenomenon. Second, Indonesia already possesses a broad response architecture, but greater attention is needed to matching interventions and responsible actors to the conditions underlying particular problems. Third, international evidence does not support a single universally effective intervention; outcomes vary according to intervention mechanisms, implementation, target populations, and context. Based on these findings, the article proposes a SARA-based framework connecting specific problems, underlying conditions, appropriate responses, responsible actors, and measurable outcomes. The framework positions police as important but differentiated participants who may act as enforcers, problem analysts, partners, coordinators, or referral actors depending on the nature of the problem. The article argues that POP can contribute to Indonesian student drug prevention by providing a consistent problem-solving process through which locally tailored, multi-agency, and evidence-informed responses can be developed and assessed.