SIBU: Drug awareness programmes should be intensified to educate the public, particularly students, on the dangers of drug abuse.
Assistant Minister of Youth Development Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah, who made the suggestion, said educating the people was more important than conducting drug screenings in schools, which is not something new.
“This has been done in some schools in Sarawak, where some students were suspected of drug abuse,” Abdul Karim, who is Asajaya assemblyman, told The Borneo Post yesterday.
The matter, he said, was not publicised to avoid causing panic among parents of the affected schools. Abdul Karim said this when asked to comment on a media report that the Home Ministry wanted the government to conduct drug screenings in schools from next year.
Deputy Home Minister Dato Sri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said they would want to have all the necessary equipment in every state and district to tackle the problem.
Abdul Karim said: “Personally, I don’t agree to the proposed blanket drug screening of all schools. What is the purpose? We must remember that students are still minors.
“Once the students are detected of consuming drugs, what do we do next? Place them in rehabilitation centres? Do we have a sufficient number of rehab centres to cater for all these cases?
“What about the image of these schools that have high incidences of drug abusers. Once screening is done and details shown, schools with high incidences of drug abuse will be boycotted by parents and the public. Who would want to send their children to these schools?”
Abdul Karim said he dared not imagine the cost of doing mandatory screenings for drug abusers in all schools in Malaysia.
“At the moment, it’s done randomly and with the cooperation of the anti-drug agency, police and the Education Department.
“I believe it is enough to maintain the existing setup and cooperation, but awareness and educational programmes to educate the public and students on the danger of drug abuse must be intensified. This is more important than anything else.
“Malaysia has not even resolved the issue of wrong usage of ‘nospan’ pills, ‘codeine’ syrup and glue sale – all of which are items not classified under the Dangerous Drug Act but are rampantly abused in Sarawak.
“This needs to be regulated first before we start screening young pupils in schools.”
Malaysian Crime Prevention Foundation (MCPF) vice-chairman Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye, meanwhile, called for an integrated approach to curb this social menace. Lee stressed that awareness programmes and enforcement must go hand-in-hand to deal with the problem.
“I think it is very important for drug awareness programme in schools to be stepped up. They (schools) are doing it, but I think it is not enough and has got to be stepped up.
“Have more activities that are geared towards creating awareness. Students must be made aware why they must never touch drugs.”
He also urged parent-teacher-associations (PTAs) to play more active roles in keeping an eye on their children and organise activities geared towards creating awareness on the dangers of drugs. Turning to non-governmental organisations (NGOs), Lee hoped they could roll out programmes that focus on drug prevention education.
On enforcement, he figured this needed to be stepped up to nab syndicates waiting to exploit students to push their drugs.
On the proposed screening, Lee suggested a provision be included to allow for screening at random.
He reasoned if students knew there was a screening going on, and even if they were involved in the substance, they would not take it before going for screening to avoid detection.
On the other hand, if the school or teacher has grounds to suspect students were involved in drugs, they could do a random screening, he said.
This way, it would be able to better identify those involved in drug abuse.
Towards this end, he appreciated the efforts of the government to tackle the problem of drug abuse.
Lee hoped the proposed screening exercise could be done properly to yield the desired result.
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