PETALING JAYA: Government programmes to stop drug abuse have failed, says Deputy Prime Minister Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.
Wan Azizah, who is the women, family and community development minister, also remembered her prison visits to her husband Anwar Ibrahim when he served his jail term.
“I was concerned when many inmates caught for drug-related offences were confined near my husband’s cell,” she said in a speech at an anti-drugs programme today at Desa Mentari here.
She said Putrajaya should study the reasons for its failure to curb drug abuse despite huge funds to fight the menace, adding that drug addicts still make up the majority of the prison population in the country.
“Something may have gone wrong somewhere. We should be looking at the reasons why,” she said in a speech at an anti-drugs programme today at Desa Mentari here.
She cited a report by the National Anti-Drugs Agency (AADK) which showed 25,922 cases of drug abuse last year, out of which 18,440 were new cases and 7,482 involved repeat offenders.