ALOR STAR: The Malaysian Drug Prevention Association (Pemadam) has identified between five to 10 per cent of school going children in the country are addicted to drugs.
Pemadam deputy president Datuk Mohamad Suhaimi Abdullah said the number is quite disturbing since the association also has identified attempts to recruit school children as drugs peddlers.
He said Pemadam has discovered that syndicates are now resorting to using candy to lure students in first with the intention to get them addicted before ‘training’ them to peddle the substance among their peers.
“We get this information from schools. It is difficult to take legal action since the amount of the drugs in the candy is quite small and might not be detected when tested including through laboratory testing,” he told reporters after closing the ‘Kayuhan Kami Benci Dadah’ at SMK Jabi here today.
He said based on statistics from 2013 until June last year, a total of 1,433 school children were arrested for various drugs-related offences.
Suhaimi said Pemadam was working closely with other relevant agencies under the National Blue Ocean Strategies to conduct programmes to curb drugs abuse issue among school children.
“We are also urging parents to take heed of what their children are doing outside school to prevent them from getting involved with drugs,” he said.