THE rise in the abuse of synthetic drugs among young people in Perak is increasingly worrying, with teenagers using amphetamine-type stimulant (ATS) as early as 13 years old.

Perak National Anti-Drugs Agency (AADK) assistant director (enforcement and security) A. Rueben said the trend of using ATS was detected last year when 68.7% of the 9,335 people who had been identified, were found to be involved.

He said the total number of drug addicts in Perak also rose 11% from 8,300 in 2019.

“The trend of drug abuse in Perak is shifting towards the use of synthetic drugs,” he said in an interview with PerakFM today.

“It is very worrying because the majority of ATS users are teenagers, as early as 13 years.”

Rueben said there were 14 high-risk drug abuse areas in five districts in Perak, namely Kinta (Ulu Kinta, Sg Raja and Sg Terap); Larut Matang and Selama (Batu Kurau and Taiping); Kerian (Parit Buntar, Bagan Serai and Tanjung Piandang); Hilir Perak (Durian Sebatang and Changkat Jong); and Perak Tengah (Pasir Salak, Kg Gajah, Bota and Lambor).

“We have also chosen Bota and Taiping as greening areas for us to focus on, and based on the indicators in the areas, there is a reduction in the number of drug abuse cases this year in those locations,” he said.

Rueben also urged the public to lodge complaints on drug addiction and abuse activities by contacting the 24-hour AADK hotline at 019-6262233. – Bernama, October 12, 2021.