Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah
SIBU: Enforcement agencies should not be left to shoulder all the responsibilities in eradicating drug abuse.
According to Assistant Minister for Youth and Sports Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah, it is everyone’s responsibility, especially the parents, to keep the negative influence away.
Abdul Karim, who is also the state chairman of the National Association for the Prevention of Drugs (Pemadam) said: “The community, including district officers (all DOs are the district Pemadam heads), schools, parents-teachers associations, village security and development committees (JKKKs), mosque, church and temple committees, political parties, youth movements, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and people’s elected representatives have roles to play.
“The people, especially the youths, need to be taught to hate drugs and see drug abuse as an evil deed that could destroy the community and the nation if left unchecked,” he said when contacted yesterday.
The Asajaya assemblyman was commenting on a recent disclosure, where a random urine test carried out by National Anti-Drug Agency (AADK) Sarawak on 99 secondary students at four schools in Lawas between January and March this year, showed that 23 of them tested positive for drugs.
Although the result was not a conclusive statistics of drug abuse among secondary school students in Lawas, the alarming ratio of almost one in four students testing positive for drugs in the survey had set off the agency’s alarm bells.
Abdul Karim said: “Of course, I am concerned too. Drug is a menace which if unchecked, could destroy the future of our youths and the nation.
“The statistics will assist Pemadam and other related agencies including the ministry to plan strategies in combating drug abuse in the state. The situation is not critical but at least the figures are good indicators that we cannot rest on our laurels.”
According to AADK deputy director Katrina Ujin, although the overall percentage of students in the state tested positive in the survey that the agency carried out in the same period was much lower, it was still a worrying trend.
It meant that the percentage of secondary students involved in drug abuse was 7.4 per cent across Sarawak – a situation that warranted immediate attention.
Minister of Welfare, Woman and Community Wellbeing Datuk Fatimah Abdullah also expressed shock over the survey’s results.