Epidemiology of Inhalant Abuse - Archives - National Institute on ...

Malaysia
In Malaysia, the abuse <strong>of</strong> organic volatile solvents has been observed
since the early 1980s. The problem <strong>of</strong> solvent abuse is predominant in
East Malaysia (i.e., Sabah and Sarawak) and in Johore—the southern part
<strong>of</strong> West Malaysia bordering Singapore (Navaratnam 1988). The national
registry <strong>of</strong> drug abusers in Malaysia does not require the reporting <strong>of</strong>
drug abusers, and there are no national statistics on the extent and nature
<strong>of</strong> the problem as such. However, there are some data available from
police records and education departments in some States. In Sarawak,
inhalant abusers are reported to the police, who in turn report the matter
to the State department <strong>of</strong> education if school students are involved.
School children (ages 7 to 19) abusing inhalants in the school compound
are reported only to the school authorities. <strong>Inhalant</strong> abuse cases
registered with the police between January 1983 and June 1990 in
Sarawak totalled 988 cases (table 1). The number <strong>of</strong> cases reported in
1983 was 101, rising to a peak <strong>of</strong> 204 in 1986 and declining to 74 in
1989 (Sharifah 1990).
TABLE 1. <strong>Inhalant</strong> abusers registered by the police, Sarawak (January
1983-June 1990).
January June
Year 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 TOTAL
N 101 165 125 204 196 102 74 21 998
SOURCE: Sharifah (1990).
In Sarawak, this problem occurs in both urban and rural areas. A study <strong>of</strong>
the pr<strong>of</strong>ile <strong>of</strong> the cases reported in Sarawak revealed that all racial groups
are involved (Sharifah 1990). Thirty-three percent <strong>of</strong> reported abusers
were students, and 40 percent were unemployed. Sixty-two percent were
younger than 18 years old, while 25 percent were between 18 and
21 years <strong>of</strong> age. A great majority were males.
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