Illicit Drug use in the Asia Pacific Region - Burnet Institute

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Situational analysis of illicit drug issues and responses in the Asia–Pacific region 198 A8 . Malaysia Geography Located in south-eastern Asia, peninsula bordering Thailand and northern one-third of the island of Borneo, bordering Indonesia, Brunei and the South China Sea, south of Vietnam . Borders with Brunei, Indonesia and Thailand . The terrain is coastal plains rising to hills and mountains . Arable land: 5 .48% Permanent crops: 17 .61% Other: 76 .91% (2001) Government Constitutional monarchy . Malaysia is headed by the paramount ruler and a bicameral Parliament consisting of a non-elected upper house and an elected lower house . Chief of state: Paramount Ruler Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin ibni Almarhum Tuanku Syed Putra Jamalullail, the Raja of Perlis (since 12 December 2001) Head of government: Prime Minister Abdullah bin Ahmad Badawi (since 31 October 2003); Deputy Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak (since 7 January 2004) Elections: Paramount Ruler elected by and from the hereditary rulers of nine of the states for five-year terms; election last held 12 December 2001 (next to be held 2006); Prime Minister designated from among the members of the House of Representatives; following legislative elections, the leader of the party that wins a plurality of seats in the House of Representatives becomes Prime Minister . Population 23,522,482 (July 2004 est .) Urban: 63 .3% of total (2002) Median age: 23 .8 years Age structure: 0–14 years: 33 .3% 15–64 years: 62 .1% 65 years and over: 4 .5% (2004 est .) Human development index HDI rank 59 (177 countries) Unemployment rate 3 .6% (2003 est .) Language Bahasa Melayu (official), English, Chinese dialects (Cantonese, Mandarin, Hokkien, Hakka, Hainan, Foochow), Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Panjabi, Thai Note: In East Malaysia several indigenous languages are spoken, the largest are Iban and Kadazan . Literacy % Age 15 and over can read and write: Total population: 88 .7% Male: 92% Female: 85 .4% (2002) Religion Muslim, Buddhist, Daoist, Hindu, Christian, Sikh; in addition, Shamanism is practised in East Malaysia Health Life expectancy: 71 .95 years Male: 69 .29 years Female: 74 .81 years (2004 est .) Infant mortality: 18 .35 deaths/1000 live births HIV prevalence: 0 .4% (2003 est .) Economics GDP: purchasing power parity — $207 .8 billion (2003 est .) Population below poverty line: 8% (1998 est .) A8 .1 Narrative summary of drug vulnerabilities Malaysia’s population has tripled and undergone rapid changes in composition since gaining independence in 1957, due in part to major economic development . Although it is currently experiencing a decline in birth rates, its previous high birth rates have, as in many other Asian nations, resulted in a population age structure that is substantially dominated by young people (Huang & Hussein, 2004) . The Asian financial crisis of 1997 impacted upon Malaysia, weakened the financial sector, affected the economy and resulted in social dislocation . A soaring unemployment rate and inflation impacted hardest upon the urban poor, more so than on the rural poor . Unemployment is currently low but details of underemployment have not been accessed (Paitoonpong, 2001; United Nations Development Programme, 2004) . Malaysia has a relatively good record in the control of poverty, but the poor (both urban and rural) can experience difficulties accessing amenities and opportunities to secure reasonable earning jobs (Lee, 2002) . As in other parts of Asia, an increasing number of people have settled in urban centres, rising from 38 per cent (1975) to 63 per cent (2002) (United Nations Development Programme, 2004) . While Malaysia is not a major producer of illicit drugs, its close geographical proximity to the Golden Triangle and other Southeast Asian countries that produce heroin, amphetamine-type substances (ATS) and other drugs ensures its vulnerability to a rising domestic drug use problem (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, 2004a; UNDCP, 2004) . 199 Country profiles: Malaysia
Situational analysis of illicit drug issues and responses in the Asia–Pacific region 200 Historical and cultural interactions with drugs Malaya (as it was known prior to independence) was never an opium-producing country — opium was always imported . The country has however had a long history of opium use, beginning in the early 19th century with the importation of migrant labour from China and South India . The smoking of opium was closely, although not exclusively, associated with the Chinese community, while cannabis was considered to be used mainly by the Malay and Indian communities (McCoy, 1991; Spencer & Navaratnam, 1981) . Cannabis was regularly used, more so among the Malays, often for medical purposes (Navaratnam & Foong, 1989) . In the mid- 19th century there were an estimated 75,000 registered opium smokers; by 1929 this had declined to 52,313, with most reported to be Chinese (Kaur & Habil, 2002; McCoy, 1991) . In 1930, following a League of Nations report on opium smoking in the Far East, international pressure mounted upon Malaya to curb the availability and use of opium . By 1936, the number of registered opium smokers was over 32,000 in Malay States, but it is likely that many more were obtaining their drug illicitly (McCoy, 1991; Spencer & Navaratnam, 1981) . In 1957, Malaysia became independent and a new trend in opium use emerged: opium had previously been confined to the elderly population but now a younger generation of men turned their attention towards heroin use . Heroin was mainly imported from the Golden Triangle (McCoy, 1991; UNAIDS & UNDCP, 2000) . In 1952, Malayan authorities launched an anti-drug strategy largely as a result of what was seen to be a rising tide of drug-related crime . In the late 1960s the ‘hippie’ culture from the West made its impact upon Malaysia, perceived to be escalating the drug problem . Drug rehabilitation centres were established and more draconian punishments against drug use became enshrined in law . Even so, from the early 1970s onwards the drug use problem has been considered a grave concern and is referred to as ‘public enemy number one’ (McCoy, 1991; National Narcotics Agency, 2001; UNAIDS & UNDCP, 2000) . A8 .2 Prevalence of drug use and profile of drug users There are varying estimates of the number of illicit drug users in Malaysia, none particularly methodologically sound; the current literature suggests an increasing number of people using illicit drugs (Mohamed et al ., 2004) . The registration of drug users began in 1970; that year, there were 711 people registered . By the mid-1980s this had risen to 119,000 (Navaratnam & Foong, 1989), and throughout the late 1980s and into the 1990s estimates ranged from 180,000 to 400,000, of which 170,000–200,000 were believed to be opioid users (UNAIDS & UNDCP, 2000) . It is difficult to tell, from Malaysian figures, whether these are cumulative or prevalent estimates . In 2001, the prevalence of cannabis use for those aged 15–64 years was estimated at 0 .5 per cent of the population (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, 2004b) . In 2002, the National Drug Agency estimated there were more than 350,000 drug users in the country (Huang & Hussein, 2004) with the media in 2004 citing government sources reporting figures ranging from 400,000 to 500,000 (Chua, 2004) . In 2003, the Director General of the National Drug Agency stated that if the problem of drug use was not contained, the number of drug users may reach 600,000 in ten years’ time (New Straits Times, 2003b) . Following a series of intensive law enforcement operations, figures from 1988 until March 2004 showed 293,987 registered drug users (again, probably cumulative) and from 2000 until March 2004 73,750 were classified as ‘hard core addicts’ (National Drug Agency, 2004) . Between 1988 and 1996 the National Drug Information System reported there were 127,000 non-duplicated drug users registered (UNAIDS & UNDCP, 2000) . In 2002, 31,893 drug users were identified and of these 17,080 were new users (54%), while the rest were classified as relapse cases (Mohamed et al ., 2004) . A further rise in 2003 showed 36,996 drug users, of whom 55 per cent were classified as new cases: an average of 1683 new drug users placed onto the registration system every month and 56 on a daily basis (National Drug Agency, 2004; Sunday Star, 2004) . From January to March 2004 there were 1931 new cases of drug users registered per month (Chua, 2004) . In 2002, a consensus meeting convened by the World Health Organization and the Ministry of Health estimated the number of IDUs could be 170,000 to 240,000 (Futures Group, 2003; Huang & Hussein, 2004) . In 2004, the United Nations Reference Group on drug injecting issues suggested 150,000 to 240,000 IDUs with a middle range figure of 195,000 . If the middle range figure is accepted, among the 13 million people aged 15–64 years in Malaysia the prevalence of those injecting drugs would be 1 .47 per cent of the population (Aceijas et al ., 2004) . Although amphetamine-type substances (ATS) (mainly in the form of crystalline methamphetamine) are increasingly popular and appearing to be more accessible in 2003, heroin followed by cannabis are by far the most common illicit drugs for which people sought and received treatment (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, 2004a) . In 2003, a profile of drug users compiled by the National Narcotics Agency showed most drug users were male (98%); the racial breakdown was Malay 70 per cent, Chinese 14 per cent, Indian 10 per cent, Lain-Lain 4 per cent, others 1 per cent and foreigners 1 per cent . The majority (71%) of drug users were aged 20–39 years . Their educational standard varied, with 36 per cent having achieved only third form secondary school education . Those with no schooling or up to primary level comprised only 16 per cent of the identified cases (National Drug Agency, 2004) . Data collection systems in place The National Drug Information System collects information from drug treatment admissions and arrest data to enhance an understanding of the drug use situation . The Universiti Sains Malaysia’s Centre for Drug Research undertakes research in ATS use (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, 2004a) . Evidence of the effectiveness of this data collection process is not available . 201 Country profiles: Malaysia
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