NIGHTSPOTS MUST CARRY ECSTASY WARNINGS SOON

JOHOR BARU: All entertainment outlets and nightspots will soon be required
to put up warning signs on Ecstasy pills at the entrances as a reminder to
their customers.

Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Seri Ong Ka Ting said a
circular on the ruling was issued to all local authorities two weeks ago.

"The warning sign serves to keep the public alert to the dangers of Ecstasy.

"The warning will be written in three major languages--Bahasa Malaysia,
Chinese and Tamil," he said after launching the state-level social ills
awareness campaign by the MCA.

Earlier, when addressing over 1,000 students at the Foon Yew High School
here, Ong said MCA's nationwide campaign against the deadly pill had gained
widespread public support.

"The feedback we received after two months of campaigning is that pill
abuse activities had been drastically reduced in the entertainment outlets
as the enforcement teams had intensified raids and checks," he added.

During the function, speakers from the state Health Department and Johor
police said that Ecstasy pills seized last year were more than two-fold at
55,975 pills compared to when the pill was first introduced into the
country in 1996.

Based on statistics, 118 people were detained for possessing or selling
Ecstasy between January and May.

In Alor Star, Deputy Home Minister Datuk Chor Chee Heung said drug abuse
had dropped by 35% nationwide in the last three months.

He said this was the biggest decline in the use of drugs such as ganja and
heroin so far and attributed the encouraging results to concerted efforts
between the police, political parties and non-governmental organisations.

Chor said he had ordered the National Drug Agency to conduct a detailed
study to find out the extent on the abuse of designer drugs such as Ecstasy.

"We know that usage of Ecstasy has dropped tremendously but we want to get
statistics to gauge the effectiveness of the police and MCA campaigns," he
said after flagging off 95 cars at the Alor Star MCA treasure hunt to
Haadyai yesterday.