Drugs Used Other Than For Medication Illegal

KUALA LUMPUR, July 4 (Bernama) -- The government regards the use of drugs other than for medication as drug-abuse and their users are considered as addicts, Deputy Internal Security Minister Datuk Johari Baharum said Tuesday.
Hence, the use of drugs such as morphine or ATS (Amphetamine Type Stimulants) often used by youths in night clubs and karaoke joints, whether once a week or once a month is considered drug addiction as it can affect one's health.
Johari said this in a statement to explain the difference between drug users and addicts raised in the TV3's "Buletin Utama" Monday.
TV3 quoted an e-mail sent by a viewer who doubted the National Anti-Drugs Agency statics of 292,696 drug addicts detected till March 2006 as mentioned by Johari recently.
Johari said a study by an institution of higher learning showed that for every addict detected there were two to three others who go undetected while the United Nations has put it at four undetected addicts for every one detected addict.
"If the UN statistics is to be used, the number of addicts in Malaysia would be 1.2 million," he said.