KOTA BHARU, Aug 27 (Bernama) -- Eighty per cent of drug addicts who underwent the Community-Based Rehabilitation (PDK) programme under the National Anti-Drugs Agency (AADK) have successfully kicked their addiction habits, thus dispelling the perception that most addicts will relapse.
AADK (Operations) deputy director-general Khairul Anwar Bachok said only 20 per cent of the more than 50,000 addicts nationwide relapsed, which is lower compared to the rates recorded about 10 to 15 years ago.
"With the availability of specialists and various types of treatment and rehabilitation, the relapse rate has been brought down to 20 per cent. This is a significant achievement for AADK.
"There are over 50,000 addicts nationwide undergoing PDK, with 5,898 of them in Kelantan,” he told a media conference on the Kelantan AADK Ops Perdana here today.
Khairul Anwar said the success has also gained recognition through the awards from the King Charles Trust Fund in London and the Raja Muda of Selangor.
Meanwhile, commenting on the four-day AADK Ops Perdana, which began on Sunday (Aug 24), he said 161 individuals have been arrested at several drug abuse hotspots.
He said the operation, involving 90 personnel, focused on the districts of Bachok, Pasir Mas and Kuala Krai, as well as several areas in Kota Bharu, that had been identified as having a high number of addicts.
"From preliminary screenings, 157 individuals - 155 men and two women aged between 19 and 61 - tested positive for drugs. Six were found to have flouted community rehabilitation treatment conditions, while four foreigners have been handed over to the police.
"Of the total, 152 tested positive for methamphetamine, two (opiates), two (benzodiazepines) and one (cannabis). Methamphetamine remains the top choice because it is easily obtainable for as low as RM5 a pill in Kelantan,” he said.
He said the operation was also implemented to break the supply chain, as well as to eradicate addiction ports, particularly in high-risk areas, and that all those detained would be investigated under the amended Drug and Substance Dependants and Misusers (Treatment and Rehabilitation) Act 1983 (Act 283), which came into force on Aug 22
According to him, the AADK will further improve such operations to target not just addicts, but also misusers of drugs and substances.
-- BERNAMA
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