PUTRAJAYA, July 12 – The level of drug addiction in the country is alarming, as the latest estimate shows that 1,097,408 citizens have fallen into the clutches of drug addiction. Even more disheartening, said Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, is that 328,640 of that total are aged between 15 and 29 years old.
“Of that number, 1,051,712 are male addicts, while 45,696 are female addicts,” he said in a statement following the chairing of the 1st Meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Combating Drug Abuse (JKMD) together with the Ministry of Home Affairs (KDN) through the National Anti-Drug Agency (AADK) on Monday. Furthermore, he stated that a study conducted by Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) in 2020 showed that for every 100 young people in the country, six of them admitted to having taken drugs at some point, while four admitted to still actively using drugs during the period of the study.
“Therefore, I am giving a three-month period to the Ministry of Home Affairs (KDN) and the National Anti-Drug Agency (AADK) to coordinate among the various relevant agencies to formulate and implement effective and beneficial initiatives or programs. “This step is to ensure that the drug problem can be effectively contained while also providing rehabilitation for existing drug addicts,” he explained.
