December 11, 2025 | 07:28 am
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The anesthetic substance etomidate has officially been classified as a narcotic. Etomidate has been categorized as a second-class narcotic based on the Indonesian Minister of Health Regulation No. 15 of 2025 concerning Changes in Narcotic Classification.
This policy was signed by the Minister of Health, Budi Gunadi Sadikin, on November 21, 2025, and officially enacted on November 28, 2025. The Indonesian National Police (Polri) and the National Narcotics Agency (BNN) had previously pushed for etomidate to be classified as a narcotic after it had been illegally distributed as a vape or electronic cigarette liquid.
In January-October 2025, the police confiscated 17,611 milliliters of etomidate. The police stated that the potent drug did not have official distribution approval from the National Agency of Drug and Food Control (BPOM).
The Director of Drug Crimes of the Indonesian National Police's Criminal Investigation Department (Bareskrim) Brigadier General Eko Hadi Santoso stated that etomidate is often misused as an electronic cigarette (vape) liquid. So far, the Ministry of Health has not included etomidate in the narcotic category.
"We will continue to enforce its distribution because it falls under pharmaceutical preparation without official distribution approval from BPOM," Eko said at the Bareskrim Polri building on Wednesday, October 22, 2025.
Eko stated that etomidate was chosen to exploit regulatory loopholes on narcotics. According to Eko, etomidate induces loss of consciousness in its users. "Suddenly, they faint for a few seconds, then start convulsing. It depends on each user," he said.
Recently, etomidate and ketamine have been found in illegal vape liquids. One such case involved the arrest of actor Jonathan Frizzy by the Soekarno-Hatta Airport Police Resort in April 2025.
Read: Vaping's Serious Health Impacts: 7 Chronic Diseases due to Vape Use
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