Amam to be set up to develop addiction medicine

Star: PETALING JAYA: The Federation of Private Medical Practitioners Association of Malaysia will initiate the setting up of the Addiction Medicine Association Malaysia (Amam) on Aug 25 to help develop addiction medicine in Malaysia.
The association will select some of the addiction medicine doctors from the federation and DrsWhoCare, who will keep up with the progress of drug addiction medicine in the world and try to find solutions which are suitable for Malaysia, said federation president Dr Steven Chow.
Others who will join the association are policy-makers, social workers and the police, and they will share their expertise in their respective fields, he said.
Currently, efforts are aimed at helping hardcore drug users recover, and little has been done for early treatment strategies, hence there is a need to focus in this area, he said.
“Most new drug users have jobs and lead normal lives, and that is the best time to nail the drug addiction problem before they become hardcore users,” he said.
“While we see a decline in the number of addicts detected, current trends in drug use may actually mask an increase in the number of undetected addicts.
“Illicit substances and synthetic drugs commonly abused in Malaysia such as syabu or methamphetamines are easy to manufacture or obtained from household chemicals and over-the-counter medications, allowing addicts to prolong their habit until they possibly become insane or destroy the lives of loved ones.”
The addiction treatment community needs to boost prevention and early treatment strategies targeted at “high risk” individuals to reduce the risk factors, said Dr Chow.