All quarters need to take responsibility to fight drug abuse — Mohd Azis

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Datuk Mohd Azis Jamman

KOTA KINABALU: Deputy Home Minister Datuk Mohd Azis Jamman has called for all parties to continuously cooperate in combating drug abuse, the number one enemy of the country.

He said the drug issue was not the problem of other people but the people’s own as there were possibilities that the people’s own family members were involved in the drug abuse issues.

“Enforcement alone would not be able to control this situation. The war on drug abuse, from prevention, treatment and recovery, needs continuity on a greater scale.

“The ban on any addictive substance should always be supported by all parties despite the urges (by some) to loosen the prohibition for the benefit of commercialisation,” he said in conjunction with the national Interactive Seminar entitled Smart Sharing Program (SHARP): Substance Abuse and Recovery Counselling 2018, here yesterday.

Mohd Azis’ speech was read by deputy director-general (operation) of the National Anti-Drug Agency (AADK) Datuk Izhar Abu Talib.

The seminar was organised by Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) in collaboration with AADK and was attended by 450 participants comprising civil servants, security personnel such as the military, police and UMS students.

According to Mohd Azis, the ban on any addictive substance should be supported by all parties, instead of loosening its prohibition because the impact of the substance on social, health and the economy could not be measured to justify the profits from its commercialisation.

He also acknowledged the issue of dealing with drug abuse was a difficult task as it involved the dependency of the drug addicts towards the substance.

However, he added, if the use of the substance in the country could be reduced, its demand would also decrease while affecting the drug suppliers.

“Theoretically, if we manage to reduce the abuse of the substance in the country, indirectly the supply will plummet as it is no longer seen as a lucrative business for the trafficker,” he said. — Bernama