1,300 students held for narcotic offences in the last three years

KUALA LUMPUR: Some 1,330 primary and secondary school students have been caught for drugrelated offences over the past three years.

Police said in 2014 alone, 439 students were detained, followed by 443 in 2015 and 448 last year.

“It does show a slight increase, but the number of students involved in drug offences is still under con- trol,” Comm Datuk Seri Mohd Mokhtar Mohd Shariff said in his last interview as Bukit Aman Narcotics Crime Investigation Department director recently.

“The majority of students detained for drug offences were secondary school students.”

Comm Mohd Mokhtar was appointed Bukit Aman Special Branch Department director with effect from last Friday.

“Students arrested for drugs are only a small fraction of all the teenagers or youths caught for such offences,” he said.

Comm Mohd Mokhtar cited peer pressure, exposure, neglect and lack of parental guidance as some of the reasons for these youngsters to be drawn to drugs.

“Most of them also do drugs for fun, the lifestyle or when they are depressed.

“The best lesson begins at home. Thus, parents must play their part in ensuring that their children are not involved in this drug menace.

“Raising awareness on the dangers of drugs at home and in schools can make a difference in preventing youngsters from being involved in this filthy activity,” Comm Mohd Mokhtar said.

Combating the trafficking and abuse of drugs was a joint responsibility, he added.

“Cooperation between the police and public is the best weapon in waging war on drugs.

“We are also working with the Education Ministry to address the

problem of students being involved in drugs,” he said.

Comm Mohd Mokhtar said police were always taking proactive measures to ensure that students did not fall into the drug trap.

Meanwhile, statistics released by the National Anti-Drug Agency showed that the number of teenage drug addicts, especially in lower and upper secondary schools, has been rising over the past few years.

There were 1,595 identified drug addicts aged 16 to 19 last year, a 16% increase from 2015, while the number of addicts aged between 13 and 15 almost doubled, from 45 in 2015 to 85 last year.

The figures were on a downward trend from 2010 until 2013 but rose again from 2014, when there were 1,173 in the 16-19 age group and 28 in the 13-15 age group.

Youths aged 20 to 24 represented 18% or 5,572 of the total drug addicts identified last year.