DRUGS WORRY IMAMS

Mosques in Brunei yesterday joined in the nation's relentless effort to
curb the growing drug problem among Muslim youths here by calling on
families to fight the menace right from their homes.

"Drug abuse among our youths, especially among our young Muslim people is a
growing concern in the country," noted the imams (mosques leaders) in their
Friday sermons throughout the country.

Report from the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) shows that last year over
500 young people were caught in connection with the abuse of controlled drugs.

Over 200 of them who were caught were unemployed while over 100 were
students. Meanwhile over 40 of them nabbed for various drug-related cases
were young girls. Sadly many of them were Muslims, noted the imams.

"The drug problem remains a growing concern in the country despite the
various efforts taken by relevant agencies such as the NCB.

"Awareness campaigns through state radio and television, posters, pamphlets
and exhibition have been conducted. But the problem continues to grow
regardless," lamented the imams.

They urged Muslim families to get serious in taking preventative measures
to guard their children from being drawn into the cauldrons of the illicit
drug menace.

The imams advised parents and families to spend more time with their
children instead of delegating such cardinal duty to others including maids.

The imams also urged parents and families to strengthen their religious
faith as well as the Islamic belief of their children. They cautioned that
drug abuse is against the teaching of Islam as it is harmful to the health
and could even cause death.

Meanwhile, according to the latest report, drug abuse cases among youths
have increased from over 380 to over 500 last year.

The majority of the young people who caught were Malays while only a few
foreign nationals and non-Malays were nabbed for drug-related offences.

But what actually caused a great concern to the relevant authorities was
not so much the number of people caught but the trend of drug abuse in the
country itself.

What worries the relevant authorities now is the growing trend in
syabu-related cases.In terms of the total number of people involved in
drug-related cases, there is however a downward shift compared to four to
five years ago after a record high in 1993.