MALAYSIANS CROSSING BORDER TO GET ECSTASY

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysians are now crossing over to a neighbouring country to
get their supply of Ecstasy pills from discos and nightclubs there.

Deputy Home Minister Datuk Chor Chee Heung said they would cross over
during the weekend, spend a night there and then return the following day.

"They think their bodies will no longer have any trace of the drug by
then,'' he told reporters at the Parliament lobby here yesterday.

Chor said that at present, the Government had no agreement with enforcement
agencies in other neighbouring countries to nab these addicts and drug pushers.

"But I would like to warn them that the drug laws in that country are by no
means more liberal than ours.

"If caught with any kind of drugs in their possession, they can be severely
dealt with as well, and even face a jail term,'' he said.

Since the MCA launched the anti-Ecstasy campaign, an informal survey had
shown that public awareness had increased dramatically, Chor said.

"The number of addicts has also been reduced. We have asked Pemadam to
carry out another survey,'' he said, adding that 93.7% of Ecstasy addicts
were found to be Chinese men, with those aged between 20 and 29 years
forming 47%.

Chor also said that from April to September, the Government had conducted
9,507 urine tests on those suspected of being Ecstasy pill addicts.

"Of these, 209 were found to be addicts. Another 248 were arrested for
pushing the pills,'' he said.