A Cheaper Treatment Is Available To Wean The Addict Off The Drug, Write Azura Abas And David Yeow THE use of methadone to wean addicts off drugs has seen high success rates -- up to nearly 90 per cent in the case of heroin addiction. However, many are still sceptical of its effectiveness as they feel it is wrong to replace a drug with another. "It is just like treating diabetics who need their daily dose of medication to control their disease," said Prof Dr Rusli Ismail from the Institute for Research in Molecular Medicine, Universiti Sains Malaysia. Methadone, he explained, would reduce the craving for addictive substances and was effective in eliminating withdrawal symptoms such as abdominal cramps, diarrhoea, sleeping difficulty, restlessness and joint pains. [continues 1146 words]
Fancy meeting a grandma who grows cannabis in her wardrobe? I JUST read a report about a grandmother in England who was recently charged with growing cannabis in her home. I don't know about you, but there are certain activities that I usually associate with pensioners, and growing weed isn't one of them. The grandmother of my childhood didn't even smoke or drink, never mind grow marijuana in her wardrobe. I'm not sure if she would even have recognised the distinctive leaves of the cannabis plant had she stumbled upon a specimen growing in her back garden. [continues 664 words]
KUANTAN: Two Thais were charged in a magistrate's court here with trafficking in 32.31kg of cannabis. No plea was recorded from Abdul Halim Da-Oh, 35, and Manawi Mama, 41, of Narathiwat province. The offence allegedly took place at Lagoona Villa Cherating at the 43rd kilometre of the Kuantan-Kemaman road on Nov 16. The charge under the Dangerous Drugs Act carries the mandatory death penalty upon conviction. Deputy Public Prosecutor Kalmizah Salleh applied for a new hearing date as the prosecution was awaiting the chemist's report. Magistrate Noralashiken Abd Razak fixed Jan 29 for the case to be re-mentioned. [end]
The daughter of a former Kenyan Member of Parliament is one of the four foreign students facing the death penalty after they were caught in possession of 4kg of ganja recently. Joe Donde and his family were expecting a joyous Christmas as his daughter, Deborah, was due home this week for the holidays. Instead, their plans are now in tatters after Deborah, a second-year college student here, was caught with the other three students when police raided a condominium in Cyberjaya. [continues 302 words]
KUALA LUMPUR: The daughter of a former Kenyan Member of Parliament is one of the four foreign students facing the death penalty after they were allegedly caught in possession of 4kg of ganja recently. Joe Donde and his family were expecting a joyous Christmas as his daughter, Deborah, was due home this week for the holidays. But their plans are in tatters after Deborah, a second-year college student here, was arrested with other three students when police raided a condominium in Cyberjaya. [continues 303 words]
PUTRAJAYA: The Federal Court dismissed an electrician's appeal against his death sentence for trafficking in almost 1kg of cannabis 13 years ago. Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak Justice Richard Malanjum and Federal Court Justices Arifin Zakaria and Nik Hashim Nik Ab Rahman rejected Mohd Azhar Saad's counsel Datuk K. Kumaraendran's contention that the Court of Appeal had erred in law when it accepted his client's statement made to a lance corporal at the time of his arrest. [continues 99 words]
The 16th World AIDS Conference focused on prevention. ADEEBA KAMARULZAMAN calls for Malaysians to pay attention to sex education in fighting the disease. THE just concluded 16th World AIDS Conference in Toronto, Canada, is a biennial gathering of scientists, activists, community leaders, politicians and people living with HIV/AIDS. This year's theme -- "Time to Deliver" -- was meant to underscore the urgency with which prevention and treatment programmes need to be put into place, 25 years after the epidemic began. In Malaysia, this becomes even more relevant given the findings from a local study reported in the NST on Aug 18 of the high degree of sexual promiscuity, coupled with low levels of knowledge surrounding HIV/AIDS, among local tertiary students. [continues 1028 words]
PUTRAJAYA: The trap sprang too early in the drug transaction and this saved a former contract worker from the death sentence for trafficking. Saari Jusoh had been jointly charged with Mohd Saufi Jusoh with trafficking in 3,686gm of cannabis at Jalan Tun Abdul Razak in Johor Baru on Sept 8, 1991. On Dec 11, 1995 the High Court sentenced Saari to death for trafficking. (Mohd Saufi was acquitted of the charge.) Yesterday, the Court of Appeal quashed the conviction and set aside the sentence and ordered that Saari be jailed 20 years and whipped 12 times for drug possession. [continues 146 words]
MUAR: A former Politeknik Ungku Omar student was sentenced to 10 years' jail and ordered to be given 10 strokes of the rotan for possessing 960g of cannabis three years ago. Mohd Rakif Saidi, 23, who was brought to the High Court here and charged under the Dangerous Drug Act, pleaded guilty before Justice Datuk Jeffrey Tan yesterday. He was arrested by a police team along Jalan Parit Othman, Parit Sulong, on May 15, 2003. Mohd Rakif, who was riding a motorcycle along the village road, had tried to speed away when he saw a police team from the narcotics branch but was stopped. [continues 97 words]
KUALA LUMPUR: A top Malaysian anti-drug official has urged for glamorous-sounding and hip names of party drugs to be dropped and replaced with names highlighting the effects of the drugs, a news report said yesterday. Designer drugs such as Ecstasy and Ketamine gave the impression of a "trendy and divine" experience for first-time drug users, said northern Kedah state's anti-drug agency spokesman Ariffin Man. Suggested new names for the drugs would be "agony" and "bamboozle", said Ariffin. "Likewise, all opiate drugs should be called organised killers, cannabis as mind destroyers and ketamine as community-paralysing agents," Ariffin was quoted as saying by the Star daily. He said the distasteful names would act as a psychological repellent to curious youngsters, adding that society ought to reject the names of the drugs which were dictated by drug manufacturers and pushers. [end]
THERE could be as many as 300,000 Malaysians with HIV/AIDS by 2015 if action is not taken, Health Minister Datuk Dr Chua Soi Lek said today. Reducing the infection rate, he noted, was the only one of the eight "Millennium Goals" Malaysia had not achieved. "This forecast is a huge number," he said. "We have taken all the steps we can by increasing the number of people working to solve this problem and educating the people. "It is hoped that programmes such as methadone replacement therapy and syringe exchange for drug addicts will keep the numbers down or reduce them," Dr Chua told reporters in Parliament lobby. He had told the House earlier that 70 per cent of Malaysia's 71,676 registered HIV/AIDS sufferers were drug addicts who had contracted the infection by sharing syringes. [end]
KBU International College (KBU) is spreading the "fight crime" message when it hosted a student seminar organised by PJ Utara MP Datin Paduka Chew Mei Fun's community centre and the Malaysia Crime Prevention Foundation (MCPF). The one-day seminar, Seminar Pemantapan Sahsiah Diri Di Kalangan Pelajar, saw more than 500 students from secondary schools in PJ Utara taking part. MCPF vice-chairman Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye and KBU chief executive Datuk Teo Chiang Liang attended the event. Other guests included senior police officers, MCPF exco members, representatives from residents' associations and members of parent-teacher associations. [continues 187 words]
Your Health Matters When I was a young child, I was fascinated with people who were addicted to opium. During those early days in Penang, we did not hear of morphine, pethidine, heroin or ganja addicts, only opium or "ah pian". It was not unusual to see an opium addict using the opium pipe to smoke opium then. Why treat drug addiction? Today, we need to ask why it is so important to treat and rehabilitate these drug addicts. One reason 75% of those infected with HIV in Malaysia are drug addicts. They share dirty and contaminated needles and so transmit HIV/AIDS. [continues 1273 words]
MUAR: The Sessions Court here sentenced a fruit seller to six years' jail and ordered that he be given 10 strokes of the rotan for drug possession. Ahari Aliman, 26, who was jointly charged with his wife Norhashimah Ibrahim, 24, pleaded guilty to possessing 261g of cannabis before Judge Norazlan Ahmad yesterday. Norhashimah claimed trial. The couple were arrested when a police team raided a house in Kampung Terus near Panchor on April 20 last year. During the trial, Norhashimah, complained to the court that some policemen harassed her when they accompanied her from Kluang to the Muar police station. [continues 88 words]
A lorry driver on trial for allegedly trafficking in 314.5gm of cannabis escaped the death sentence when the High Court here amended his charge to one of possession yesterday. Judicial Commissioner Azman Husin ordered Rozimi Ruslan, 31, to enter his defence on the lesser charge under Section 39A (2) of the Dangerous Drug Act 1952. The offence was said to have been committed at No 64, Taman Desa Bruas, Manjung, at 10.10pm on July 23, 2001. Rozimi, who was represented by counsel Naran Singh, chose to make his defence on June 9 by giving evidence from the witness stand. He is now facing life imprisonment and 10 strokes of the cane. [end]
SHAH ALAM: Illegal immigrant Rosli Hassan was yesterday sentenced to eight years' jail and ordered whipped 10 times -- all for a mere RM100 profit from a drug sale. Rosli, 24, a canteen helper was caught with 209gm of cannabis at a bus-stop at Jalan 25/61 in Seksyen 25, Shah Alam, at 4pm on Feb 28, 2005. He had bought the drugs for RM400 and was about to sell it to a buyer for RM500 when he was arrested. Rosli escaped the gallows after the charge was amended from trafficking to one of drug possession. High Court judge Datuk K.N. Segara said: "You are lucky the charge was amended. I hope you have learnt your lesson." [end]
SHAH ALAM: A 37-year-old man was sentenced to 10 years' jail and ordered to be given 10 strokes of the rotan by the High Court yesterday, after pleading guilty to an alternative charge of possessing more than 200g of cannabis. Judicial Commissioner Datuk Zaharah Ibrahim ordered Alley Anuar Mohamad to serve his sentence from the date of his arrest, on May 23, 2004. Earlier, counsel Samry Masri and Aminuddin Mohd Ramli told the court that Alley has regretted his actions. [continues 149 words]
Kota Kinabalu: Some 30 staff of a resort were forced to walk all the way home after the driver of a minibus in his 20s that was chartered to transport them and a passenger were tested positive for Syabu. A passenger in a separate minibus who was without any identification document tried to escape by jumping off before the bus reached the checkpoint but was caught. Altogether 16 motorists were detained for suspected drug abuse and drink-driving during the five-hour integrated traffic police operation until the wee hours Sunday. [continues 140 words]
KUALA LUMPUR: In January this year, 177 primary school children became drug addicts. If this alarming figure is taken as a monthly average, the number of new addicts below 13 this year will exceed last year's, a possibility that deeply troubles Deputy Home Affairs Minister Datuk Tan Chai Ho. "Last year, there were 1,802 new drug addicts in the under-13 age group," Tan said yesterday. "This January alone, there were 177. Multiplying that by 12 will give us 2,124, an increase of more than 50 per cent. I fear for the future of tomorrow's leaders if they are already taking drugs in primary school." [continues 163 words]
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. [continues 559 words]
Inside Malaysia
