Worrying trend of synthetic drug abuse among youth in Perak

IPOH (Bernama): The increase in the abuse of synthetic drugs among young people in Perak is increasingly worrying, with teenagers using Amphetamine Type Stimulant (ATS) as early as 13 years old.

Perak National Anti-Drugs Agency (AADK) assistant director (Enforcement and Security) A. Rueben said the trend of using ATS drugs was detected last year when 68.7 per cent of the 9,335 people who had been identified, found to be involved in the drug abuse activities.

He said the total number of drug addicts in Perak also showed an increase of 11 per cent compared to 8,300 drug addicts in 2019

"The trend of drug abuse in Perak is shifting towards the use of synthetic drugs compared to traditional drugs.

"It is very worrying because the majority of ATS users are teenagers, as early as 13 to 18 years and those aged 19 to 39 years,” he said during an interview with PerakFM on Tuesday (Oct 12).

Meanwhile, Rueben said there were 14 high risk drug abuse areas involving five districts in Perak, namely, Kinta (Ulu Kinta, Sungai Raja, Sungai Terap); Larut Matang dan Selama (Batu Kurau and Taiping); Kerian (Parit Buntar, Bagan Serai, Tanjung Piandang); Hilir Perak (Durian Sebatang, Changkat Jong); and Perak Tengah (Pasir Salak, Kampung Gajah, Bota, Lambor).

"We have also chosen Bota Taiping as greening areas for us to focus on, and based on the indicators for the areas, there is a reduction in drug abuse cases this year in those locations,” he said.

Rueben also urged the public to lodge complaints on drug addiction and abuse activities by contacting the 24-hour AADK hotline at 019-6262233.- Bernama