3,000 new drug addicts detected in Penang every year

BUTTERWORTH: Three thousand new drug addicts are detected in Penang every year with 80% of them being youths below 20 years of age, according to Penang police chief Datuk A. Thaiveegan.
He said the statistics which had been obtained through urine tests conducted by the police and National Anti-Drug Agency, were alarming.
"We take the matter seriously and immediate action is being taken by executing the necessary programmes … More youths, including school students, have become drug addicts from a young age," he told reporters after visiting Sekolah Tunas Bakti Teluk Air Tawar here today.
Meanwhile, Thaiveegan said police were still closing in on three students of the school, aged between 17 and 18, who escaped last Sunday.
He believed that the students were still in the state.
Inspections revealed there were signs that the hostel's gate was pried open and they are believed to have escaped through the second exit near a field which was unlocked, said Thaiveegan. — Bernama