The growing trend of drug abuse among elementary and high school students alarming, the youngest addict just 11 years old, says the National Anti-Drug Agency

KANGAR, October 14 — The issue of drug abuse and addiction among primary and secondary school students in the country shows a worrying trend according to statistics from the National Anti-Drug Agency (AADK), recording an increase in 2020 to 2023.

AADK Deputy Director General (Operations) Khairul Anwar Bachok said 10,456 cases of drug abuse and addiction involving primary school students were recorded in 2020, increasing to 10,712 cases in 2021.

“Then, in 2022, cases among primary school students recorded an increase to 11,611 and increased to 12,755 cases last year (2023),” he told reporters after officiating the aspiration program at the language and literature of the Perlis level.

The programme, jointly organized by AADK together with Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP) and the Perlis Department of Education, implements several anti-drug campaign competitions involving primary and secondary schools in Perlis in an effort to diversify the anti-drug campaign drugs for target groups.

Khairul Anwar said that according to AADK records, the youngest primary school student to become a drug addict was 11 years old.

Meanwhile, for the lower secondary category, i.e. third cycle or equivalent students, Khairul Anwar said statistics recorded 32,867 people involved in drug abuse and addiction in 2020, increasing to 34,612 people in 2021.

“In 2022 there was an increase to 36,236 people and then this number increased last year to 37,321 people,” he said.

He said that for the high school category which is the fifth and its equivalent, it rose to 55,855 people last year (2023) compared to 47,951 people in 2022, while the previous year there were 43,863 students, with 42,758 students in 2020.

In this regard, Khairul Anwar said that his team has implemented several steps to ensure that the problem can be addressed through preventive efforts using the AADK i-Cegah model, which includes five main elements: screening and assessment, profiling, planning, implementation and evaluation.

At the level of implementation of prevention, three main methods are highlighted, general, selective and focused on four main target groups, which are families, educational institutions, workplaces and communities”.

“Furthermore, AADK also implements various education and awareness programs for prevention with the aim of raising awareness among target groups about the effects of drug abuse and addiction, especially among teenagers “, he also said.

He added that the “Prevent Better” campaign continues to be intensified to ensure that early prevention efforts become the main barrier before the issue of drug abuse and addiction worsens. – Bernama