KOTA KINABALU: The number of drug addicts in Sabah had risen sharply from 658 in 2013 to 1,036 last year.
“We were targeting zero drug abuse by 2015. But we are not seeing a reduction. As a matter of fact, there has been an increase,” said Community Development and Consumer Affairs Minister, Datuk Jainab Ahmad Ayid to media members after chairing a meeting for the coordinating committee for Drug Prevention Agency Malaysia (PEMADAM) with the National Drug Prevention Agency (AADK), the Royal Malaysia Police Department as well as district officers at Wisma Tun Fuad near here yesterday.
She said that based on statistics derived from the AADK, a total of 599 workers in the private sectors were involved in drugs and followed by 215 unemployed addicts.
A total of 192 people who were self-employed and 30 civil servants were also involved in drug abuse last year.
Based on the statistics, Jainab noted that the highest number of addicts was between the age range of 18 years old and 39 years old.
“There were 891 addicts within this age range,” she said.
There were 110 addicts within the age range of 40 years old to 49 years old and 16 addicts who were between 50 years old and 59 years old.
Meanwhile, only 19 drug addicts out of the total 1,036 were under 18 years old.
The majority of the drug addicts last year were males and only 77 were women.
Jainab also said that the most prevalent drugs abused in Sabah were Syabu and that they were trafficked into the State via airways, by sea and even via courier services.
“We need to further strengthen our enforcement in these areas,” she said.
At the same time, she also said that Kota Kinabalu continued to top other places with the number of drug addicts at 206, followed by Tawau with 183, Sandakan with 162 and Beaufort with 96.
“We can see that drug addiction is spreading to the interiors of Sabah,” she said.
Jainab also stressed the need to address the issue related to drug addicts differently.
She said that it was important to view drug addiction as a sickness and urged parents to seek treatment for their children if they found them to be afflicted.
She also urged employers to allow their employees to seek treatment and not terminate their employment.