JERTIH: Youths remain the largest group involved in drug abuse in Malaysia, according to the country’s National Anti-Drugs Agency (AADK).
AADK director-general Datuk Ruslin Jusoh said individuals aged between 19 and 39 accounted for 60 per cent of the 192,857 drug users detained in 2024, totalling 116,245 people.
He added that this represents a 32.5 per cent increase in the overall number of drug users compared to 145,526 recorded the previous year, with 90,520 of them also from the same age group.
“In Terengganu alone, 56 per cent or 6,800 of the 12,004 recorded drug users were youths in this age range, with many found to be using synthetic drugs such as yaba pills, also known locally as pil kuda,” he noted.
Ruslin was speaking to reporters today after officiating the AADK Director-General’s Engagement Programme at Gong Kemuntong Community Hall.
He urged parents and schools to take a more active role in preventing youth involvement in drug abuse, warning that failure to address the issue could result in serious long-term consequences.
