Upset Drug addiction among our teenagers
Drugs have become increasingly attractive to young people because of affordability, as well as the
youngster's curiosity, influences from friends and their own inability to resist temptation.
A 19-year-old girl caused a deadly accident for driving on the wrong side of North-South Highway, killing one and injuring five, including herself.
She was found to be in a state of hallucination when the fatal incident took place, with her urine tested positive for amphetamine, proving that she was driving dangerously under the influence of drugs.
The incident has since drawn the attention of the Malaysian public while highlighting the seriousness of drug addiction problem among our teens.
A 19-year-old should have obtained his or her driving license not more than two years, and shouldn't be skilled enough to drive on the wrong side of the highway without wreaking havoc to fellow road users.
If the girl is indeed suffering from mental illness, why did her parents allow her to drive alone early in the morning in the first place? Just because of her negligence and rashness, she took away a precious life, crushing the family of a beloved son and newly wed husband. The young driver who has caused the death and injury of innocent motorists must be sternly punished for driving dangerously under the influence of drugs as a warning to other potential offenders.
This accident has warranted our serious look into the problem of the widespread abuse of hard and soft drugs in Malaysia. Despite the tremendous effort of the enforcement authorities, drugs are still actively sold in the market.
In a raid carried out last month in Johor Bahru, the police recovered 100 packets of instant ecstasy powder. Be it heroin or soft drugs such as methamphetamine and ecstasy pills popular among the youths, narcotics will have very serious impact not only on the user's health or his family, but also the society as a whole.
As if that is not enough, government statistics show that there are more and more drug addicts in this country, along with a disturbing fact of more youngster and female involvement. Most drug addicts are young people between 18 and 39.
Drugs have become increasingly attractive to young people because of affordability, as well as the youngster's curiosity, influences from friends and their own inability to resist temptation.
The increased trend of young women getting addicted to drugs is alarming. These young ladies give in to drugs out of curiosity, influences from friends or supply of drugs from their male partners.
A young female drug addict will render herself more susceptible to sexual abuses while overdose could prompt the user into dangerous behaviors, such as driving recklessly on the highway, creating unnecessary dangers to other road users.
As a matter of fact, we have read a lot of sexual abuse cases as a result of drug addiction. And we have also read of a son killing his parents in a state of hallucination after taking drugs.
Parents cannot be spared from the responsibility for their children's drug addiction. It is imperative that parents pay more attention to their children's whereabouts and daily activities, and educate them on the dangers of drugs before things get out of hand.
Drug addiction will not only destroy the future of the child, but will also become a serious problem to our society.