THE issue of drug addiction among children is increasingly worrying, with some starting to get involved as early as primary school at the age of 10, said Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
He said that one of the causes of addiction among minors is the tactic of dealers who give away candy containing drugs for free.
"I have discussed this matter with the Ministry of Education (MOE) and at preschool institutions so that we can curb it and this requires cooperation not only from teachers and parents but also from the entire community," he told Bernama in a special interview recently.
Ahmad Zahid, who is also the Chairman of the Cabinet Committee on Combating Drugs (JKMD), said that various efforts have been implemented to curb the phenomenon, including learning methods to combat drug smuggling more effectively, in addition to aspects of prevention and rehabilitation.
For that, he said enforcement agencies such as the National Anti-Drug Agency (AADK) need to be more creative, especially in detecting drug smuggling, including the trend of using delivery services.
"Sometimes we see the packaging as if it were an item purchased online but the contents are (drugs). They are very creative in this matter and I think the enforcement and recovery agencies must be more alert than these people (drug dealers)," he said.
Meanwhile, Ahmad Zahid said that the problem of drug abuse in Malaysia is a cross-racial issue, with the states that recorded the highest addiction rates being Kelantan, Terengganu, Perlis and Kedah.
"In this drug abuse crime, it is truly one Malaysia. The big dealers are Chinese, the organised dealers are Indians, while the retail dealers are Malays," he said.
Ahmad Zahid said the drug abuse situation is now at a critical level with an increase of 32.5 percent in 2024 compared to the previous year.
He said there were 436 addicts per 100,000 population in 2023 and jumped to 586 in 2024, while as of June this year, statistics showed there were 396 addicts per 100,000 population.
To ensure accountability in the aspects of enforcement, recovery and prevention, Ahmad Zahid said that AADK, driven by the annual Key Performance Indicators (KPI) set by the Ministry of Home Affairs (KDN) and guided by the KDN Strategic Plan 2020-2025, is currently in the process of drafting a new plan for the period 2026-2030.
He said that among the minimum indicators to assess the success of the war on drugs is the Anti-Drug Index which recorded 68.3 percent based on a study by researchers from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) in 2024.
"In addition, the client recovery rate, the number of recovered individuals who successfully found employment, the level of community awareness through the Community Empowerment Recovery Index (CERI), as well as collaboration with government departments, community leaders and NGOs (non-governmental organizations) are also benchmarks for success," he said.
Meanwhile, Ahmad Zahid also shared his experience when he was the Home Minister when the number of prisoners in the country was successfully reduced from 78,000 to 42,000 as a result of the implementation of a retraining program in prisons.
"I don't consider prisons just places of punishment, but rather correctional centres. We train prisoners in economic activities to the point where we have successfully generated RM35 million in sales. More importantly, the recidivism rate has been reduced from 48 per cent to just 2.6 per cent.
"The experience proves that with creativity, skills training and economic opportunities, the drug problem and related crimes can be addressed," he said. - September 25, 2025
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