Speaking to Singapore news portal TODAYonline, AADK director-general Abdul Halim Hussein said unlike drugs such as heroin and marijuana, synthetic drugs were easily available online and through the use of apps like WhatsApp.
This has hampered authorities’ efforts to trace and apprehend both suppliers and users, he added.
Last October, Deputy Home Minister Nur Jazlan Mohamed said schoolchildren in 420 schools nationwide had been identified as being at high risk of serious drug abuse.
He said random tests conducted on 36,675 schoolchildren in 2015 found 1,475 of them positive for drugs.
Of the total, 1,075 children, or 73%, were positive for amphetamine-type stimulants, while the rest were positive for cannabis-related drugs.
Nur Jazlan added that the low price of psychotropic drugs, available for as little as RM5 a pill, were a key reason why many school and university students chose them over more expensive drugs like heroin and cocaine.
Halim told TODAYonline that synthetic drugs such as methamphetamine, ecstasy and ketamine were easily produced in home factories and the main challenge in Malaysia’s war against drugs.
“Most addicts nowadays are hooked on synthetic drugs because it is easily available,” he was quoted as saying.