JOHOR BARU: More and more schoolgirls are being "forced" to take drugs by their boyfriends, front men in drug trafficking syndicates.

The girls, as young as 14, take the drugs pressed on them by the men, who promise to go steady with them and be a couple.

This was revealed by National Anti-Drug Agency (Johor chapter) deputy director Abas Sudar, who said some of the schoolgirls were even dating school dropouts who were drug addicts.

"Syndicate members use these irresponsible boyfriends as bait to hook the girls on the habit.

"In return for turning the young girls into drug addicts, the boyfriends get a discount on their drug purchases."
Abas said the information was revealed by several secondary schoolgirls who claimed they were introduced to drugs by their boyfriends.

"They alleged that their boyfriends forced them into drugs, and threatened to leave them if they refused.

The agency's statistics reveal that as of July last year, 16 schoolgirls and 147 schoolboys were drug addicts.

"About 30 per cent of students caught for drug abuse between January and April this year were girls aged between 14 and 17," Abas said during the Private Higher Education Institution Zero Drugs programme at Kolej Islam Johor yesterday, which was attended by 200 students of the college.

The agency has identified 3,298 drug addicts in Johor who are not students. There are 1,574 addicts in Johor Baru, Muar (299), Batu Pahat (476), Segamat (159), Mersing (161), Pontian (201), Kluang (203) and 200 in Kota Tinggi.