COMMENT | No end to war against drugs

COMMENT | October has to be the month of drugs. The unending political upheavals aside, stories about drugs - its illicit trade and abuse - were dominant in the Malaysian media for a good part of the month.

I remember how we embarked on an all-out war against drugs in the 70’s after we saw the destruction and damage it inflicted on the nation’s soul. Those hooked on drugs were condemned to a life of living hell.

When the head of the family is a drug addict, the whole family is destroyed. The lives of the young and old are ruined. Drugs only leave a trail of destruction and show no mercy.

Drugs were declared Malaysia’s public enemy Number One then. It was also during this period that the death penalty for drug traffickers was legislated. We meant business in the war against drugs then.

But we have failed and failed miserably in the battle against drugs. One of the key factors has to be...