DON'T TAKE THE DRUG PROBLEM LIGHTLY: MASIDI

Kota Kinabalu: The drug problem in the country cannot be taken
lightly as it affects not only the future generation but may also
jeopardise the administration of the country, if left unchecked.

In illustrating the danger of the menace, Youth and Sports Minister
Datuk Masidi Manjun cited Colombia in the 80s which was in the grip of
former drug lord Pablo Escobar.

According to him, the drug problem had very much penetrated not only
the administration of Colombia but also its justice and law
enforcement systems.

"Not only that. The drug lord used to be a Wakil Rakyat (people's
representative) and was known to have bribed numerous other
representatives, judges and police, not to mention the killings of
some of them and players of the media.

"By day, Escobar was a hero, giving money to the poor and harbouring a
wish to someday become President of Colombia," he said, adding the
wish almost came true as many representatives were under his payroll.

Masidi was speaking at the closing of the Roundtable Conference to
Tackle the Drug Threat in Sabah here Saturday, organised by the
Malaysian Youth Council, Sabah Youth Council, the Malaysian Muslim
Youth Organisation (Abim) Sabah branch, the Youth Enablement Committee
of the Sabah Youth Consultative Council and Ministry of Youth and
Sports, with co-operation from various departments and agencies.

While the situation in Colombia is very much different from that in
the State and the country, he stressed that it would not be impossible
if Malaysia is led by a drug king if the problem is not tackled
earnestly by all parties.

Stressing that his intention was not to embarrass any particular
persons or organisations, Masidi mentioned some shortcomings within
them that need to be addressed seriously.

Parents, he said, need to play their parental role fully without
passing all the blame and responsibility to teachers.

"For example, in a Parent-Teacher Association meeting, sometimes only
15 parents turn up, and most of them are the mothers while the fathers
are busy elsewhere.

"In Ranau, my own constituency, there was a parent who did not know
that his daughter had been skipping classes for two months and instead
going somewhere else during school sessions and only came to know his
daughter was expelled from school after receiving a letter from the
principal.

"Our law enforcement and drug agencies are working hard to bring the
drug menace down, only to find that the drug peddlers, driving Ninja
Kings, are more sophisticated than them, who are just driving Kancils
or Daihatsus - this is a problem not at the implementation but at the
policy level," he said, adding policymakers need to rethink their priorities.

Masidi also warned of the emerging trend of drug peddlers approaching
their trade as a business.

According to him, a former government servant in his Ministry in the
80s kept going back to the abyss of drug addiction as he could not
resist peddlers who approached him after coming of out of
rehabilitation.

"The Government servant could not resist the temptation as the
peddlers were giving him free fix, as a 'bonus' for being released
from the rehab facility," he said.

He also stressed the importance of being at the same level and
understanding youths when trying to help them overcome their problems,
particularly drug-related ones.

The latest statistics also show the emerging trend of new addicts
mostly being young women.

"The tentacle of the drug menace has also reached rural areas, which
are worryingly becoming nests of syabu," Masidi said.

Several resolutions were passed at the conference, which included the
need to form drug rehab centres for women, life imprisonment for drug
peddlers, formation of a central narcotics investigation body by the
government and the building up of a half-way centre by the private
sector for rehabilitated drug addicts before they rejoin society.