Sharp drop in drug abuse among Sarawak students

KUCHING: Drug abuse among students in Sarawak is on the decline with only 12 testing positive in the first half of the year.

State Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Seri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah said the number of drug cases involving students had decreased from 274 in 2019 to 141 in 2020 and 116 last year.

"Despite Sarawak's vast size and many entry points, the drug problem is under control.

"The declining number of students testing positive shows that our efforts to combat drug abuse have borne fruit," he said when handing over anti-drug posters to the state Education Department at his office here on Thursday (Aug 10).

Abdul Karim, who is also the state chairman of Malaysia Drug Prevention Association (Pemadam), said the students who tested positive were aged 14 to 16 and came mostly from urban schools.

He said they were given counselling, among other intervention measures.

"We must continue our efforts to keep bringing down the numbers. Cooperation among the relevant agencies is vital," he added.

Abdul Karim also said Pemadam would continue to work closely with the Education Department and National Anti-Drug Agency to tackle the drug problem.

He said Pemadam had prepared 1,500 sets of posters to be distributed to schools and district education offices in Sarawak this year to step up awareness on the dangers of drug abuse.

State Education director Datuk Azhar Ahmad said the department was pleased to work with Pemadam on drug prevention programmes among students.

"It's important to cultivate awareness of drug abuse from an early age," he said.