Cases of drug abuse among school students in Malaysia are showing an increasing and worrying trend. The National Anti-Drug Agency (AADK) said that based on their statistics, drug abuse among Malaysian school students recorded an increase for the period 2020 to 2023.
AADK Deputy Director General Khairul Anwar Bachok said a total of 10,456 cases of drug abuse were recorded involving primary school students in 2020, and the number increased to 10,712 cases in 2021.
In 2022, the number increased again and recorded 11,611 cases. In 2023, the concern elevated when a total of 12,755 cases were recorded.
The continuous uptrend is NOT the only concern. During a recent event, Khairul said,
“Based on AADK records, an 11-year-old student was the youngest detected to become a drug addict.”
For the lower secondary school category, which is Form Three students or equivalent, Khairul Anwar said statistics recorded a total of 32,867 students involved in drug abuse issues in 2020, and in 2021, the number rose to 34,612 students.
The cases continue to increase to 36,236 and 37,321 students in 2022 and 2023, respectively.
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The situation didn’t fare better for the upper secondary level. Khairul said for Form 5 students and higher, the cases increased to 55,855 people in 2023 compared to 47,951 people in 2022.
In 2021, 43,863 students were recorded to be involved in drug abuse, an increase from 42,758 students in 2020.
“Various measures were implemented by AADK to ensure that the issue could be overcome by using prevention efforts through AADK’s i-Cegah Model covering five elements, including screening and assessment, profiling, planning and implementation.”
Campaigns will also be held as an early preventive measure before the drug abuse cases go out of hand.
With the number continuously increasing and with young minds exposed to everything on the Internet, we hope the parents and authorities will do their part to curb the issues.
