KUALA LUMPUR : A total of 131,841 drug addicts have been registered in Malaysia between January 2010 and February this year, said the Home Ministry.
Its minister, Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi in a reply to Datuk Koh Chin Han (MCA-Melaka) said according to a report released by the National Drug Information System, National Anti-Drug Agency (AADK), from the total drug addicts, 127,797 were men and 4,044 were women.
“Drug abuse among youth aged 19 and below amounted to 8,732 people. Those aged between 20 to 39-year-old totaled 93,044 drug abusers while the last category, aged 40-year-old and above, recorded the highest number with 29,355 drug abusers,” he said in a question and answer session in Dewan Negara today.
He also said, based on statistics by the AADK client profile management system, from 2011 until 2015, there were 20,731 people undergoing treatment and rehabilitation at the Cure and Care rehabilitation centres.
“From the amount, there were 9,563 new cases of drug abusers, which is 46 per cent of the total amount.
“The statistic also revealed that in 2015, 1,973 or 41 per cent from 4,838 drug abusers who were in treatment fell back to their old habit.
“The number of female drug abusers from 2010 until 2015 totaled 3,889 people and from the amount, those who went back to their old habits stood at 538 people or 14 per cent, with 3,351 or 86 per cent being new cases of drug abuse,” he said.
Koh had asked the Home Ministry to state the statistics of drug addicts, according to age, gender, types of drugs, and harmful substances such as cocaine, ketamine, marijuana, Eramin-5 and heroin from 2010 to date, as well as measures taken to address the abuse of harmful substances.