SECURITY forces, including police and enforcement agencies like Customs must boost surveillance at entry and exit points to stop drug smuggling into the State, CM Datuk Seri Musa said.

He said Sabah was facing problem with the drug menace and most of the supplies were believed to be smuggled in from neighbouring countries. State Youth, Sports and Culture Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun had earlier identified Filipinos as a source of the State's Syabu problem.

Speaking after launching the "Youths Hate Drugs" programme at Padang Merdeka, Sunday, Musa said patrols needs to be stepped up in the State's waters to curb drug smuggling.

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Kuala Lumpur: Malaysia will soon begin using eye-scan machines in schools to detect drug usage among teenage pupils after reports that a large number of adult drug users begin their addictions while in school, media reports said yesterday.

Deputy Education Minister Noh Omar said the 200,000-ringgit ($53,333) machines should be able to detect signs of drug use within 24 hours by using light displays to measure eye movement.

A preliminary test of the eye scans is to be conducted next month at a school in Kuala Lumpur, he said.

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Eye Scanners To Detect Student Drug Users

SHAH ALAM: This is an effort to look at the drug problem among youngsters right in the eye.

Scanners with eye-test technology will be used to detect drug users among students in secondary schools.

Deputy Education Minister Datuk Noh Omar said a pilot project would be carried out at a secondary school in Kuala Lumpur next month to determine its effectiveness.

He said a foreign company had recently demonstrated the technology here and the Education Ministry was keen on obtaining the scanners if the project was successful.

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A scanner that can detect drug abuse via an eye-test will be evaluated at a secondary school in Kuala Lumpur next month in a pilot project to determine the effectiveness of the technology.

Deputy Education Minister Datuk Noh Omar said a foreign company has recently demonstrated the device here and the Education Ministry will be keen on obtaining the scanners if the pioneer project is successful.

However, Noh did not disclosed the name of the technology that will be undergoing trials at the school in May.

[end]

Kota Kinabalu: State Narcotic Crime Investigation Department Head, Supt. Yap Thoon Khuan, said parents should keep a close eye on their children so that they would not get involved in drugs.

He said this is because children and teenagers are easily influenced and that even a stick of cigarette can lead them to drugs.

"Parents should keep an eye on their children (and) keep them away from triads and gangsters.

"There were even cases that drug-pushers used innocent children in the delivery of drugs," he said, adding good parenting was one of the most effective ways to keep children away from drugs.

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SIPITANG: Police here have uncovered a dangerous ruse by Syabu traffickers that can result in madness and rapid body deterioration through continued consumption.

Disclosing this after officiating a Police Day function here, Saturday, District Police Chief ASP Said Noor Mohamad said chemical analysis had shown that the syabu was found to have been mixed with other ingredients, such as rat poison and alum.

Such dangerous mixture might be due to the shortage of the drug due to tight security at the entry points, including Sipitang, he said.

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THAT is the question reopened by the Bar Council over this country's continuing inclusion on the steadily diminishing list of nations with the death penalty.

That list now stands at 76, of which 25 or so have not executed anyone for at least 10 years and may be moving towards joining the 122 countries without the death penalty.

Some 40 of these have done away with capital punishment in the past 15 years alone, a global trend that has left just four countries accounting for 97 per cent of all judicial executions - China, Iran, Vietnam and the United States.

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THE Government has to find other ways to combat the dadah scourge as placing addicts in rehabilitation centres has not been that successful in curing their addiction.

Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said this was why the harm reduction programme was introduced.

He said the results so far had been encouraging.

Under the three-component programme, drug users exchange dirty needles with clean ones and are given condoms and the drug substitute methadone.

Speaking at the lobby, Najib said initial results from the use of methadone were encouraging.

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KUANTAN, Tues.

A Doctor Escaped The Gallows When He Pleaded Guilty To An Alternative Charge Of Possessing Dihydrocodeine Pills, Which Are Classified As Dangerous Drugs, Two Years Ago.

Dr Allwee Idris, 43, was instead sentenced to four years' jail and fined RM20,000 or six months' imprisonment.

He was originally charged with three counts of trafficking in codeine and dihydrocodeine in 2004. He had pleaded not guilty to all the charges which carry the mandatory death sentence.

However, the prosecution offered alternative charges for the three counts today and Dr Allwee was only required to plead guilty to the third charge and admit the first two charges.

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ABOUT 100 girl guides from Negri Sembilan and Kuala Lumpur shouted "Belia benci dadah (Youth hate drugs)" with gusto as they started a day-long programme in which they learnt about the subject.

The programme, themed "Drugs and HIV/AIDS", was conducted on Saturday at Wisma Pandu Puteri in Jalan Pantai Baru, Kuala Lumpur. It was a joint effort between the Girl Guides Association of Malaysia and the Malaysian Youth Council.

There were seminars, exhibitions and quizzes in which the participants, aged between 15 and 21, were encouraged to take part interactively in order to achieve the HIV/AIDS badges introduced by the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS).

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NIBONG TEBAL, March 4:

Police believe they have crippled one of the major dadah pipelines in the northern region with the arrest of two suspects and seizure of drugs worth more RM600,000.

The bust was made in a raid at a double-storey house in Taman Jentayu, Simpang Ampat here at 4.30pm Thursday.

The suspects tried to escape through the ceiling but failed when the 10-man team from the South Seberang Perai police moved in.

The team found 210kg of ganja in 210 slabs and more than 5kg of heroin, some in compressed form, inside the house.

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A 39-year-old lorry driver escaped the gallows after admitting to being in possession of 226 grammes of cannabis at his home in Kampung Seri Aman three years ago.

The prosecution, which had initially charged Wagiman Ahmad with trafficking amended the charge to possession yesterday. He then pleaded guilty to the charge.

Wagiman told the court that the drugs were for his personal consumption.

The High Court sentenced him to 10 years'jail and 10 strokes of the rotan.

Judge Datuk K.N. Segara said: "You are lucky the prosecution offered an alternative charge of possession, as you were initially facing the gallows."

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KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 25:

Located on the highest point of Bukit Kerinchi and 500 metres from the nearest house, this spot could have been a suitable weekend escape for city folk.

But dadah addicts and pushers had turned it into their haven.

Police cleared the spot six months ago, but in a surprise check early yesterday, they found it 're-occupied'.

The more disturbing discovery is that the dadah haunt is run in a more organised manner.

A police team from the Brickfields narcotic division surprised five suspected addicts, including a 21-year-old woman, from their sleep about 5.30am.

It is learnt that there were more suspects at the haunt, but many escaped.

Police seized 42 tubes containing heroin and 15 tubes containing syabu at the haunt.

The suspects, in their 20s and 30s, were remanded for further investigation.

[end]

Penang, Feb 15:

Police uncovered a drug-processing laboratory and seized a German-made pistol and an assortment of drugs in six separate raids here since Jan 16.

Four women were among 14 detained in connection with the raids in George Town, Jelutong, Bukit Mertajam, Seberang Jaya and Kepala Batas. A Myanmar and an Indonesian were among the men nabbed.

The suspects, believed to be traffickers, are being investigated under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act. They face the mandatory death penalty upon conviction.

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Drugs And Utensils Seized And Shoes Where Drugs Were Hidden

The Narcotics Control Bureau recently recorded its biggest drug haul this year in foiling the attempted smuggling and trafficking of Cannabis weighing 940.85 grammes, it said in a press release.

NCB enforcement personnel found $3,331 cash, two digital weighing scales and several modified utensils used for drugs.

An operation conducted at the Kampong Jangsak, Gadong area last February 7 led to the big haul that also saw the arrest of 13 Malay youths.

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A rise in the consumption of the deadly narcotic 'Syabu' or Methylamphetamine by drug abusers could lead to a serious mental health problem in the country, medical experts warned yesterday.

Dr. Ramli Hassan, Head of Administration of Psychiatry Department of RIPAS Hospital in a presentation entitled "Mental Health and Services at the Psychiatry Department to residents of Mukim Berakas 'B', made this serious observation.

Last year (2005), some 556 grams of Syabu or methylamphetamine were seized, the highest since 2002. It surpassed other drugs confiscated in the sultanate like cannabis herb, ecstasy, heroin and morphine.

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KUALA LUMPUR: Companies employing former addicts should be given the same tax incentives enjoyed by employers hiring disabled people.

Malaysian Crime Prevention Foundation chairman Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye, who called for this, said that the Government should also consider initiating a policy to help former drug addicts seek employment and return to society.

"We should all give rehabilitated addicts a chance to be employed and reintegrated into society.

"These former addicts must not be condemned forever and must be given a chance to redeem themselves.

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Tell Me About

I READ with interest about the case of the man who vanished in the middle of the ocean while aboard a cruise. He was drinking absinthe. What is absinthe and what can it do to your body?

Absinthe is a strong alcoholic liqueur made from a herbal abstract, including wormwood (called Artemisia absinthium). It is emerald green in colour because it contains chlorophyll, and is extremely bitter.

In order to drink it, you have to dilute it with cold water, which is poured over a spoonful of sugar into a glass containing one shot of absinthe. The drink then changes colour to an opaque, milky white.

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KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 20:

A car repossessor wept tears of relief when the High Court here discharged and acquitted him of trafficking 60.2gm of heroin and monoacetmorphine six years ago.

The reality that he had escaped the gallows, at first did not quite sink in for K. Puvaneaswaran, 31.

After Justice Datuk S. Augus-tine Paul acquitted him, he turned to a court policeman who nodded and smiled in reassurance.

Then a teary-eyed Puvaneas-waran turned to his wife and mother in the public gallery who were equally moved.

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SUBANG JAYA, Jan 10:

Two friends from Besut, Terengganu, will have to celebrate Hari Raya Haji in jail after they were nabbed for possession of five kilogrammes of 'daun ketum' in Puchong here on Saturday.

The men, in their late 20s, were to have returned to their kampung yesterday with the leaves - scientifically known as Mitragyna speciosa - - if not for a run-in with four Rela members on patrol in Kampung Sri Aman about 4pm on Saturday.

It is learnt that the duo had picked the leaves from trees that grow not far from the kampung before they were arrested.

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