Police Set Etomade As Narcotics Category II, Users Can Be Processed By Narcotics Law

Photo illustration: criticalcareviews

JAKARTA - The Indonesian National Police (Polri) has determined liquid liquid containing ethodidate anesthetics as class II narcotics. With this change in status, etomodite users can now be charged with Law Number 35 of 2009 concerning Narcotics.

The Director of Narcotics Crime at Bareskrim Polri, Brigadier General of Police Eko Hadi Santoso, said that prior to this new regulation, ethoRIDate had not been included in the narcotics group, so prosecution could only be carried out using the Health Law.

"In the past, the ethodidate had not been included in the narcotics class, so the prosecution was still using the Health Law and could only be imposed on dealers or producers. For users, the Health Law cannot be imposed," he said in a written statement, Thursday, December 11, 2025.

However, after the government officially designated the ethodidate as class II narcotics, the law enforcement mechanism changed. According to him, users can now be arrested and directed to undergo rehabilitation.

"Now it has entered the narcotics group, so users can be subject to the Narcotics Law and rehabilitated," he explained.

Etomade was previously known as an anesthetic drug used in certain medical measures. However, in some cases, this substance is abused by mixing it into non-medical products such as vape liquids, which are then produced and circulated illegally.

The determination of ethodidate as class II narcotics is contained in the Minister of Health Regulation (Permenkes) Number 15 of 2025 concerning Changes in Narcotics Classification.

"The regulation, which was signed on November 21, 2025, lists ethodidates on the class II narcotics list, along with opioids and other anesthetics," he said.

The Permenkes was issued to update the list of narcotics in line with the emergence of various new psychoactive substances that could potentially be misused but were not covered by previous regulations.

Before the new status was determined, Brigadier General Eko Hadi Santoso also emphasized that his party was still taking action against vape or e-cigarette users who used liquid containing e-tomide, even though at that time the substance had not yet been categorized as narcotics.

He said the ethodidate was an anesthetic so it was included in the drug category. Previously, the use of these substances was still regulated in the Health Law Number 17 of 2023 and had not been attached as narcotics or psychotropic.

"Now it is manipulated by drug networks. Why? Because the network can sell and be used by consumers, while users cannot be said to be narcotics perpetrators," he said.