SIBU: Methods to address the menace of drug abuse need to be revisited as such cases continue to rise.
Assistant Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah said he believes the main reason is the lack of strong and committed law enforcement against drug trafficking and abuse.
“We need a revisit on how we should address the drug abuse problem as despite all the stringent laws, drug trafficking and abuse seem to be on the increase,” he told thesundaypost when commenting on the Malaysia Crime Prevention Foundation’s (MCPF) call for the Ministry of Education to take the worsening drug abuse among students to the cabinet for immediate action.
“Too much money is at stake and I am not surprised, the lack of commitment, enforcement, prosecution and committal of offenders has something to do with that.”
He called on parents and schools to play a bigger role in educating children to shun drugs.
“The war against drug abuse is a long and tough battle and if we lose this war, our future generation will be at stake,” he added.
According to National Anti-Drugs Agency (AADK) statistics, in 2014 a total of 13,605 new drug addicts were detected, accounting for 62.47 per cent of the total 21,777 addicts in the country, with repeat cases contributing 37.53 per cent or 8,172 cases.
For those aged 16 to 17, there were 192 new cases or 1.41 per cent of the new cases nationwide, with 14 repeat cases; while for the category of 18-year-olds, there were 365 new cases and 23 repeat cases.
A total of 539 new cases were detected among 19-year-olds, contributing 3.96 per cent of the new cases, with 40 repeat cases.
Those aged 20 to 24 accounted for the bulk of the new cases detected at 3,270 cases or 24.04 per cent with 481 repeat cases.
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