Drug suppliers are turning children as young as seven into addicts by giving them free drug-laced sweets only to turn them into pushers for their peers.
This has been carried out since last year through a pyramid scheme which also comprises children besides small syndicates that supply drugs to children.
National Anti-Drugs Agency deputy director-general (operations) Izhar Abu Talib said the use of children in the scheme was a strategy deployed to entrap other children.
“The children get the sweets from a distributor who pushes sales just like in a pyramid scheme,” Mr Izhar said.
He said those selling the sweets usually loitered at places frequented by children outside schools or near playgrounds.
“But they are usually at places packed with children or at their hangout spots,” he said.
Mr Izhar said although the potency of the drug in the sweets had not been determined yet, most were laced with pil kuda or ganja.
“Their addiction to the drug depends on how regularly they eat the sweets. It is difficult to determine how fast the children get addicted,” he said.
“If they take it once a week, it will take a while to affect the child but if the child takes it every day, it would be faster.”
The drug distributor’s objective ultimately was to ensure a continuous customer base.
“It is a floodgate to introduce drugs to children so when they feel like they are enjoying themselves, they will keep looking for the drug and eventually become dependent,” he said.
“Then, it will not be hard for the supplier to find people to sell the drugs to.”
Mr Izhar said there were 26 students in the agency’s Cure and Care Service Centre (CCSC) in Kedah who were only being given tuition to prepare for the PT3 examination.
Another group at the CCSC in Kota Baru still go to school daily.
He said the agency only came into play if schools were unable to rehabilitate the children.
“Some children come forward voluntarily with their addiction. Others are persuaded by their parents or reported to us by schools.” he said.
“We usually ask the schools to intervene and if they (the children) are rehabilitated, then they can go back to school. But if they can’t, then we will step in and place some of them under voluntary rehabilitation.”
He said the agency’s primary role was to save students with higher drug dependency.
“We are also working with the Health Ministry prevention programmes which include random urine testing on students suspected of being involved in drugs,” he said.
“Right now, our focus is to get children out of their drug dependency and save them, especially since some are still in the early stages.”
In an immediate reaction, Malaysian Crime Prevention Foundation vice-chairman Lee Lam Thye said it was not surprising drug distributors were selling such sweets to children.
He said it was important to teach children not to be influenced by drugs.
Source: TODAY Online
