DPM Ahmad Zahid Expresses Grave Concern Over Drug Scourge Reaching Primary Schools 

By Nurul Hanis Izmir

PUTRAJAYA, Sept 25 (Bernama) -- Drug addiction is now claiming children as young as ten in primary schools, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said, expressing grave concern over this critical threat demanding immediate national attention. 

He pointed to a particularly insidious tactic of dealers offering free sweets laced with drugs to lure in young children.

“I have discussed this matter with the Ministry of Education and preschool institutions to curb this problem. Tackling this issue requires the collective efforts of teachers, parents and the entire community,” he said in a recent exclusive interview with Bernama.

Ahmad Zahid, who chairs the Cabinet Committee on Eradication of Drugs (JKMD), said various initiatives are being implemented to tackle the larger-scale issue, including learning more effective methods to combat drug trafficking, alongside prevention and rehabilitation efforts.

Consequently, he said, enforcement agencies like the National Anti-Drugs Agency (AADK) must adopt more creative approaches, particularly in detecting drug smuggling and monitoring new trends such as the use of delivery services.

“Sometimes the packages are disguised to look like an ordinary online purchase, but they contain drugs. They are highly creative in this regard, and I believe our enforcement and rehabilitation agencies have to be even more creative than they are,” he said.

Ahmad Zahid highlighted that drug abuse in Malaysia is a cross-racial issue, with the highest addiction rates in Kelantan, Terengganu, Perlis and Kedah.

“In the realm of drug crimes, it is a ‘truly Malaysian’ problem. The major traffickers are Chinese, the organised distributors are Indian, and the retail-level dealers are Malay,” he explained.

He revealed that the situation has reached a critical level, with a 32.5 percent increase in addicts recorded in 2024 compared to the previous year.

The statistics show a sharp rise from 436 addicts per 100,000 people in 2023 to 586 in 2024. For the current year up to June, the figure stands at 396 addicts per 100,000 people.

To ensure accountability in enforcement, rehabilitation, and prevention, Ahmad Zahid stated that AADK is developing a new strategic plan for 2026-2030, driven by annual Key Performance Indicators set by the Ministry of Home Affairs and guided by its Strategic Plan 2020-2025.

He outlined several minimum indicators for measuring the success of the war on drugs, such as the Anti-Drug Index, which recorded a score of 68.3 percent based on a 2024 study by Universiti Teknologi Malaysia.

“Other key benchmarks are client recovery rates, the number of recovered individuals who successfully gain employment, the level of public awareness measured by the Community Empowerment Recovery Index, and cooperation with government departments, community leaders, and NGOs,” he added.

On a separate note, Ahmad Zahid shared his previous experience serving as Home Minister, where the national prison population was successfully reduced from 78,000 to 42,000 through the implementation of retraining programmes within prisons.

“I do not believe prisons should be solely for punishment, but rather correctional centres. We trained inmates in economic activities, successfully generating RM35 million in sales revenue. More importantly, the recidivism rate was slashed from 48 percent to just 2.6 percent.

“That experience proves that with creativity, skills training and economic opportunity, the drugs and related crime issues can be addressed effectively,” he said.

-- BERNAMA