PUTRAJAYA, July 10 — The Home Ministry (KDN) and the National Anti-Drug Agency (AADK) have been given three months to coordinate efforts to devise effective initiatives or programmes to curb drug problems, said Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

He said that several related agencies also need to join hands to draft and organise effective initiatives or programmes, so that drug problems can be curbed more effectively.

In a statement issued after chairing the meeting of the Cabinet Committee on the Eradication of Drugs (JKMD), here today, Ahmad Zahid expressed concern about drug abuse activities, as the estimated number of drug addicts currently stands at 1,097,408.

Of that number, he said that 1,051,712 addicts were men and 45,696 were women, while 328,640 of them were aged 15 to 29.

"The findings of a study, conducted by Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) in 2020, showed that for every 100 youths in this country, six people admitted to having taken drugs, while four people admitted to still actively taking drugs during the study period,” he said.

Ahmad Zahid said that today’s meeting will be a game-changer for drug problems, and involve all relevant ministries, agencies and non-governmental organisations (NGOs).

He said that the meeting also agreed to ensure that legal empowerment is strengthened to prevent drug abuse at all levels.

"The effectiveness of law enforcement in the country will also be studied in detail, to address drug abuse comprehensively.

He said that the effectiveness or success will not be based on the number of addicts rehabilitated, but on the number of arrests or the reduction of the number of addicts in the country as a whole. — Bernama