KUALA LUMPUR: Methamphetamine is the most used drugs by students in the country based on a statistics from early this year until July 31.
The Education Ministry in a parliamentary written reply today said drug abuse involving students was still low as it involved only 0.03 per cent, or 1,410 of the total 4.7 million student population.
"Of the 1,410 students, 75.68 per cent (1,067) students took methamphetamine, cannabis (16.73 per cent), opium (5.17 per cent), amphetamine (2.23 per cent) and ketamine (0.19 per cent).
"The ministry would like to stress that the involvement in drugs is students who tried the drugs and not categorised as addicts," it said in reply to a question by Dr Siti Mariah Mahmud (PAN-Kota Raja)
Mariah had asked the ministry on the latest number of drug abusers among students and the type of drugs they took.
She also asked the steps which had been taken and would be taken by the government in curbing such a problem.
On this, the ministry said it had intensified its effort in combating drug abuse among both primary and secondary students through curriculum, co-curriculum and personality development.
All schools nationwide had set up a Drug Prevention Education (PPDa) committee that coordinated all related activities throughout the year, the ministry added.
"Among the initiatives made by the committee are holding the five minutes’ message during Anti-Drugs week campaigns, urine tests for secondary school students, PPDa education through health subjects and Anti-Drug Badge Scheme programme (SLAD).
"Activities by PPDa are held with the cooperation by agencies such as National Anti-Drugs Agency, Health Ministry and Malaysian Drug Prevention Association (Pemadam)," it added.
However, the ministry did not provide data on drug abuse among college or university students.
Last month, Deputy Home Minister Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed reportedly said based on data in 2015, 1,475 students were found to be involved in drugs related to Amphetamine Type Stimulant (ATS) at 73 per cent, cannabis (19.2 per cent) and other drugs (eight per cent).
Nur Jazlan had said the reason many school and university students were lured into taking psychotropic drugs over heroin and cocaine were because they could buy a pill for as low as RM5 each.
Reports by ARFA YUNUS, FERNANDO FONG, BEATRICE NITA JAY