How can I buy cocaine online in Langkawi

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How can I buy cocaine online in Langkawi

Tourism is one of the fastest growing industries globally, and it is a primary contributor to the economies of most countries. The tourism industry directly raises employment and income levels, and is one of the most important industries for fostering growth. The main purpose of this study is to investigate the factors affecting the tourist arrivals to Langkawi Island. Most of the tourist related countries have been experiencing increasing crime, and existing studies have shown that crime impacts negatively on tourist arrivals. Both economic and noneconomic factors will be tested to identify the exact factor which contributes to the tourist arrivals. The noneconomic factors are crimes which divide into three types of crimes violent, property and drug crime. This research covered the quarterly data from to This study mainly focuses on the impact of drug crime, violent crime and property crime on tourist arrivals in Langkawi Island. Our findings indicate that all drug crime, violent crime and property crime have harmful effects on tourism in the Langkawi Island under study. The international tourism market has been expanding significantly in the last 60 years. International tourist arrivals, which were 25 million in , grew to million in It almost doubled to million in and rose to million in The upward trend has continued to million in and finally the latest recorded international tourist arrival was 1. Malaysia was ranked fifth in the Asia Pacific region in terms of international tourist arrivals World Tourism Organization, Currently, the country is gearing to be among the most popular tourism destinations globally. Island tourism has become a growing trend in Malaysia. Tourism Malaysia reported that the country recorded One of the most popular islands in Malaysia is Langkawi Island, Kedah, which is situated on the west coast of the peninsula. Langkawi is the only island in peninsular Malaysia which has an international airport. This allows tourists to fly there directly from many foreign countries such as Singapore, China, India etc. In addition, it is also known as a duty-free island. A potentially important factor that could influence tourism demand is the safety of the destination. A place with a high risk of victimization would likely hinder tourists from visiting the destination. The risk of victimization would be from any activity that poses a threat to tourists such as criminal activity. In the Malaysian Crime Index, seven types of crime are considered as violent crimes; namely robbery without firearm, gang robbery using firearm, gang robbery with no firearm, rape, attempted murder, murder, as well as causing hurt voluntarily Tang, a. Today, criminal activities all over the world are increasing rapidly. Thus, crime has become a new field of study in economics. Ishikawa and Fukushige believed that crime rates are not only related to economic factors but also to non-economic influences such as culture, backgrounds, and ethics. There is also some research that has proved the existence of a relationship between crime rates and some economic variables. Historically, Malaysia used to be one of the safest countries in Southeast Asia. Malaysia records an increase in firearm-related crimes even though the country has very strict laws on firearm possession and use. The headquarters of the Malaysian police reported that violent crimes involving the use of firearms such as murder and robbery had increased during the first six months of compared to the same period in Another popular crime in Malaysia is the usage of illegal drugs. Illegal drugs are not a new phenomenon in our country and the rest of the world. Earlier, in the 19 th century, United States of America used drugs for medical purposes. The drugs introduced at the time were opium-type drugs used as pain-resisting drugs, for treating coughs and insect bites, as medication for children and widely used by women for medical purposes. However, the use of drugs has been abused for criminal activities. Drug abuse in Malaysia involves types such as heroin, ganja, morphine and other psychotropic substances Kamarudin, Drug abuse is a major social problem in Malaysia. The National Drug Agency ADK , now known as the National Anti-Drug Agency AADK , is an agency under the purview of the Ministry of Home Affairs in charge of the entire aspects of the country's anti-drug operations by conducting prevention, treatment and rehabilitation programs, evaluating program effectiveness, and establishing regional cooperation. According to the AADK, a total number of 30, cases were recorded in Out of this number, 22, were new cases and 7, were repeat cases. The number of cases in showed an increase from which recorded 26, cases. This shows that the number of cases on average were 84 per day in Malaysia. According to the statistics of the Langkawi district police, there are five main types of crimes in Langkawi. The five main types of crimes are crimes against persons, property crime, crimes against morality illegal drugs , white-collar crime, and organized crime. Among the crimes mentioned above, crimes against morality which is illegal drugs contributes to the highest portion of crimes in Langkawi. Most of the tourists are victims of theft, burglary and robbery. In the police statistic most of the tourists are victimized by drug addicts. The drug addicts break and enter the rooms or chalets that are built at the beach side because tourists have a tendency to lower their guards and neglect the usual safety measures when they are on a holiday. They leave valuables unattended and sometimes in unlocked cars by the roadside or beach. Personal items such as watches, cash and mobile phones are left in hotel rooms or apartments that are not secured properly, thus making it easy for the criminals to do their job. Drug related crimes in Langkawi pose a major threat to the tourism industry. Figure 1 shows the statistic of drug cases in Langkawi from to It shows an upward trend. The high number of drug-related crimes in Langkawi could have an impact on tourist arrivals and the level of foreign investment on the island. In selection of news on drug crimes in Langkawi Figure 01 , two worrying occurrences can be seen. First, the criminals involved young adults whose age is around years old. Second, the amount or quantity of drugs seized were alarming for a small size island like Langkawi. There are many indicators used to calculate the level of tourism in a particular destination. Martins, Gan, and Ferreira-Lopes used the total number of international tourists and the amount spent at the holiday destinations in their study on the association between the macroeconomic factors and the global demand for tourism. They used the econometric analysis in explaining the impact of macroeconomic factors on the demand for tourism. Research on the factors affecting tourism has been studied by many, for example, by Mohammed and Sookram , Ajagunna , Alleyne and Boxill , and Tang b. The studies on the factors considered many spectrums, such as from economic perspective, social perspective, management perspective, and crime perspective. Researchers such as Ismail , Cao , and Ishii even integrated these perspectives in their models due to the availability and limitation of the data; this will be explained further in Section 2. Among these perspectives e. Nonetheless, research on the effects of crime on tourism has been gaining much importance due to the wider coverage given by both the national and international media on crimes and misdemeanors. Since the security and safety of a tourism destination is of paramount importance to travelers, such news do not bode well for the reputation of a tourism destination. Factors influencing international tourists may be examined from two opposite perspectives, namely, the supply side and the demand side. Khadaroo and Seetanah , and Martins et al. They added that the transport infrastructure is crucial in the development of a tourism destination, indicating that it is a part of the standard demand in international tourism functions. Nevertheless, demand factors are also vital for explaining the number of international tourist arrivals. Researchers including Muchapondwa and Pimhidzai , Zhang and Jensen , and Vietze have conducted research from this perspective. The demand for tourism is influenced by numerous determinants, such as income, prices of tourist goods and services, transportation costs, as well as exchange rates Kosnan et al. For example, high-income earners tend to travel to high-income countries such as Dubai, Europe countries and other high-end countries. Meanwhile, those who earn a much lower income would opt for cheaper packages in countries such as Thailand, Indonesia, Philippine, and other related countries. Development of the tourism industry in a country will always cause crimes committed against tourists. Both of them are correlated and it is not a new phenomenon for the tourists. In an earlier study by Giddens , he stated that crimes against tourists influence numerous individuals, other than the victim and their families. This reality is true; bad experiences by tourist at specific place are secured by the media or announced by tourist themselves to their families and friends, verbally. There are two types of crimes against tourists; the first is the organized crime, where it means a pre-planned crime such as terrorism. The second category is the crime of opportunity, such as robbery, burglary and rape. Safety and security are the main issues faced by all countries in the world, but many countries would face this issue in a more serious manner. Mohammed and Sookram attempted to test the hypothesis that the rates of crime in Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago have an impact on the number of tourists visiting those countries by examining the relationship between tourist arrivals and crime rates during a year period. Their results showed violent crimes and property crimes affect tourist arrivals negatively in both cases. The authors pointed out that it is likely that such a result was obtained because the governments of both countries have implemented strategies and policies drafted to curtail crime. At the same time, the author uses some other macroeconomic variables such as GDP, CPI and oil price of the country to find out the relationship between the dependent variable and the independent variables. These independent variables were selected by author based on the literature on tourism demand. In this study, we are more concerned about the drug addicts than the drug dealers. There is a wide range of perspectives as to why individuals take drugs and no hypothesis made has demonstrated satisfactory work to clarify all types of substance misuse. Recent research by Golub et al. Golub and Johnson revealed individuals who take drugs usually face various problems in their family and social groups, while having individual traits with an inclination towards addiction and are exposed to numerous social issues. When drug addicts cannot get access to their drugs, they will most likely do anything to get their fix this includes breaking the law. This is where the crime will take place. Drug abuse and crime are believed to have a connection between them, making them the main reason behind criminalization. Previous researchers revealed that most criminal offenders have had experience with drug abuse. Therefore, drug abusers will commit crime activities. Various crimes including domestic abuse, homicide and armed robbery are often associated with drug addiction Siegel, Macroeconomic variables and economic ties have a huge impact on tourist arrivals. The first macroeconomic component is the GDP. Higher consumptions are associated with more economic activities that will boost the GDP growth. The second most important macro-economic component is the unemployment rates, which serve as a prime indicator of the local labor market conditions. Unemployment rate is defined as the percentage of people who is prepared for employment at the current wage rate but are unsuccessful in securing a job. Tang covered the yearly data in the period of — to examine the crime rates in Malaysia by using price levels and unemployment rates as the determinants. Inflation is the third major macroeconomic component; consumer price index CPI measures the changes in the overall price level. This index demonstrates fluctuations in the value of cash over time. Promotional efforts expanded by the Langkawi authority has successfully attracted domestic and international tourists to the island. However, it is found that in terms of percentage, the dispersion and pattern between the two groups of tourists are not stable. The instability issue raises the concern over the future sustainability of domestic and international arrivals for Langkawi. To further illustrate the concern, Figure 2 shows the growth rate of domestic and international tourist arrivals in Langkawi from to Over the ten years from to , there has been an inconsistent growth rate and no upward trend in domestic and international travellers to Langkawi. The most interesting issue observed from the graph is when the domestic growth rate declined, the international growth rate in contrast showed an incline. In the domestic growth rate declined by 0. An observation of the data from the decade tabulated showed a similar trend of divergent growth rates happening three times in , and recently in They also indicate that Langkawi might not always be an ultimate favourite destination. Interestingly, the decline in the international growth rate looks more glaring than the decline in the domestic growth rate. First, the inconsistency might be attributed to the high rates of drug, violent crimes and consistent criminal reports published in media. Secondly, the inconsistency of growth rates might have caused by crime related to criminal activities which stem from the unethical pursuits of Thai workers. Many Thai itinerant workers have been staying in Langkawi; working at Thai food outlets, night clubs and also being involved in immoral activities. Finally, the inconsistency of growth rates might also be caused by the development of nearby island destinations. Fewer international tourists are opting for Langkawi because there are some other selections nearby which are more attractive, comfortable and cheaper for vacations. What is the relationship between international tourist arrivals and the macroeconomic variables of Malaysia? Literature on factors affecting international tourism demand makes the purpose of this study is to identify the key factors affecting international tourist arrivals to Langkawi and provides the latest empirical evidence. Secondly, the study seeks to find out the factors affecting international tourist arrivals to Langkawi, mainly that includes crimes and macroeconomic variables such as the GDP and consumer price index. The inclusion of these factors will broaden the understanding of international tourism demand. Moreover, it will shed light on the role of drug-related crimes in reducing or increasing the number of international tourist arrivals. This section specifies the tourism model which is adapted from the study by Mohammed and Sookram This model illustrates the relationship between crime and the number of tourist arrivals in Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago. The tourism demand equation was adjusted for this study to address the tourism issues in Langkawi. The original model by Mohammed and Sookram is demonstrated as follows:. Referring to Mohammed and Sookram study, although they successfully depicted the influence of crime on tourist in the country, their study did not take drug crime into account. Therefore to address the gap in this study, we extend their model by including the impact of drug crime, violent crime and property crime on the number of tourist arrivals in Langkawi. Justifications for including drug crime have been elaborated in Chapters 1 and 2. Drug crime is included because:. Drugs-related crime can spoil the morality of a destination such as prostitution activities, theft, and etc. Witt and Witt indicate that 75 per cent of the models used to analyze tourism demand employed the double log functional form of the model. In terms of measurement, ta will be measured using the number of tourists from China, India, Indonesia, Singaporean and Thailand between the year and These countries are chosen because they are identified as the largest and consistent contributors to the percentage of tourists to Malaysia. Other reasons for their inclusion are geographical proximity and cultural and heritage factors. Our policy independent variable that is crime encompasses crimes such as drug, violent, and property crimes. Although there are other types of crime such as commercial crime and cybercrime, these crimes are not chosen due to data unavailability. Property, violent, and drug crimes were measured by the number of cases reported in Langkawi. For macroeconomic variables, the measurement for market size is Real GDP and the price of goods will be taken from the CPI measurement. Both macroeconomic variables data are taken from the BNM statistic website. The relationship between crime and number of tourist arrivals is expected to be negative. This is because a higher crime crate in the island will discourage tourist arrivals. The main concern for tourists when choosing a travel is safety and crime rate. Tourists usually opt to travel to secured destinations as they feel safer when travelling. The relationship between drug crime and number of tourist arrivals is expected to be negative. Drugs related tourist destination considered not a healthy tourism destination. This is because a higher drug crime crate in the island will discourage tourist arrivals. The data analysis utilized static and dynamic estimators. Four modern econometric models were used in the tourism demand to examine the relationship between tourist arrivals in its determinants. Time-series methods were deployed and are found to be quite accurate, particularly over a short-term period. Table 01 shows the correlation between variables in this study. Firstly, the results show that correlation values between independent variables do not exceed 0. Secondly, the correlation between tourist arrival from countries in this research and types of crime produced mixed results. These interesting results warrant further analysis to examine in detail the relationship between tourist arrivals and crimes. Thirdly, our results show that drug crime is highly correlated with the market size and moderately correlated with the price level. Nonstationary time-series data has the potential to give spurious results for our analysis. Our results confirm that all data in the research is stationary at first difference I 1. We proceed with estimating long-run economic relationship for our tourism demand model using Johansen cointegration method Johansen, Our Johansen Cointegrating Test results are shown in Table After confirming the existence of cointegration relationship between these variables, we proceed by measuring the any movement away from the long-run equilibrium using VECM. The interest would be on the sign, magnitude and significance of the coefficient of error correction term. Table 03 shows the result of the error correction terms for our research model. All ECMs have negative sign, indicating the movement back to equilibrium when deviation happens. The speed of adjustments in China and India models are about the same, indicating partial adjustment quarterly. Singapore model adjusted the quickest Table 04 shows the long-run estimation results for our study. The inclusion of property did not produce optimum results in Thailand, China and India tourist arrival model. Only through Indonesia model, the increase property crime reduced the number of tourist arrival. Results also suggested that increase in violent crime deterred the number of tourist arrival from Indonesia, Thailand and India. Drug crime was found to be affecting tourist from all countries, however in mixed effect. Interestingly, a higher drug crime has attracted more tourist arrival from Indonesia, Thailand and India. The highest effect is on Thailand tourist arrival, where for a given amount of property and violent crime case, an additional case of drug crime leads to an increase in tourist arrival from Thailand by 1. Drug case also deterred tourist from China and Singapore. For a given amount of property and violent crime case, an additional case in drug crime would hinder about 1. This study has provided many unique results concerning the relationship between all three crimes and number of tourist arrivals. Few studies have surveyed property crime and violent crime affects the tourism industry and none have specifically focused on drug crime and its effects on tourism industry. In addition, this research looks at the effects of crime against tourism and particularly drug crime against tourism industry at the particular destination which is Langkawi Island. In short, the results of this study indicate mixed findings for the hypothesis H 1 and H 2 The relationship between crime and number of tourist arrivals is expected to be negative; The relationship between drug crime and number of tourist arrivals is expected to be negative. Where, number of tourist from Singapore and China are having negative relationship with crime but Thailand, India and Indonesia are having positive relationship with crime. More the crime less the number of tourist arrivals was the prime objective for this study. When, the results show more the crime more the number of tourist arrivals of Thailand, India and Indonesia is said to be bizarre and look more interesting for the study. The above statement supported by the studies of Biagi et al. The Effect of Tourism on Crime in Italy, where they found the results that tourism positively affects criminal activity; in the short run, a one-per-cent increase in arrivals leads to a 0. In the case of Thailand, we can conclude those Thailand tourists are the drug suppliers to Langkawi because more the tourist arrivals more the police drug cases have been recorded involving Thai people. Since our study revealed that drug, violent and property crime discourage tourist arrivals, there must be some short to medium term plans in place to reduce these figures. In conclusion crime does affect tourism negatively and can dent the image of a destination. It is vital that safety and security be tightened to ensure growth and sustainability of the tourism industry. All the interested stakeholders in tourism will hopefully join forces in combating crime within Langkawi Island. Finance, business, innovation, entrepreneurship, sustainability, environment, green business, environmental issues. Kothandapam, A. Ahmad Ed. European Proceedings of Social and Behavioural Sciences pp. European Publisher. We use cookies or similar technologies to access personal data, including page visits and your IP address. We use this information about you, your devices and your online interactions with us to provide, analyse and improve our services. This may include personalising content or advertising for you. You have control over your personal data. For more detailed information about your personal data, please see our Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy. These cookies are essential in order to enable you to move around the site and use its features, such as accessing secure areas of the site. Without these cookies, services you have asked for cannot be provided. They remember that you have visited a site and quite often they will be linked to site functionality provided by the other organization. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. Anbalagan Kothandapam ,. Ema Izati binti Zulkeplli. Abstract Tourism is one of the fastest growing industries globally, and it is a primary contributor to the economies of most countries. Keywords: Crime drug GDP international tourism Langkawi Introduction The international tourism market has been expanding significantly in the last 60 years. Threat to tourism A potentially important factor that could influence tourism demand is the safety of the destination. Crime against tourist in Langkawi According to the statistics of the Langkawi district police, there are five main types of crimes in Langkawi. Drugs in Langkawi Drug related crimes in Langkawi pose a major threat to the tourism industry. Figure 1: Drug-Related Cases in Langkawi Publication Date 06 October Publisher European Publisher. Volume Print ISBN optional -. Edition Number 1st Edition. Pages Subjects Finance, business, innovation, entrepreneurship, sustainability, environment, green business, environmental issues. Cite this article as: Kothandapam, A. We care about your privacy We use cookies or similar technologies to access personal data, including page visits and your IP address. Accept all Manage my preferences. Manage My Preferences You have control over your personal data. Strictly Necessary Cookies. Marketing Cookies. Accept all Accept selected.

The Impact Of Drug Crimes On International Tourist Arrivals In Langkawi Island, Malaysia

How can I buy cocaine online in Langkawi

Official websites use. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. Despite considerable efforts made and resources used to address DSU concerns, Malaysia has seen a significant annual rise in cases of DSU. The bulk of the reported cases originate from youth between the ages of 15 and 40 years. To date, data related to DSU in Malaysia have been entirely dependent on operation statistics, arrest counts, and reported cases; DSU may therefore be under-reported and the data obtained not representative at the national level. This study aims to determine the prevalence of DSU among Malaysian youth through a large nationwide representative survey. Of the population of 11,, youth aged 15—40 years, the prevalence of DSU among lifetime users was found to be 5. The most popular drugs for lifetime users were kratom or Mitragyna speciosa , while for current users the most popular drug was cannabis. The current study reports the magnitude of the problem at a country-wide level, which is a crucial preliminary effort for crafting evidence-based and well-informed policies. Drug and substance use DSU is a worldwide problem \[ 1 , 2 \]. The abuse of psychoactive substances is associated with many harmful effects on both physical and mental health. DSU has a major impact on health care services, public services, and the criminal justice system \[ 6 \]. The bulk of the health care budget is spent on treating the effects of addictive drugs \[ 7 \]. Every year, the Malaysian government spends over half a billion Malaysian Ringgit to deal with drug offenders, such as by arresting and housing addicts in state-run rehabilitation centers throughout the country \[ 8 \]. Chronic addictions have the tendency to cause a spectrum of behavioral disorders, from social delinquency such as disciplinary problems in school skipping and dropping out of school to mental health repercussions such as depression or violent or criminal behaviors \[ 4 , 5 , 13 \]. According to the World Drug Report \[ 9 \], an estimated In Malaysia, approximately adolescents or 9. The report highlighted that the prevalence of kratom use a herbal substance that can produce opioid- and stimulant-like effects was 0. Other countries such as India are also facing similar problems, as a majority of drug users are aged between 13 and 15 years and have no permanent income or job. A study by de la Torre-Luque, Ozeylem, and Essau \[ 17 \] on addictive behaviors among adolescents from 73 low- and middle-income households found that the prevalence of substance use in Asian countries was high among adolescents, especially in non-Muslim countries such as Laos, the Philippines, and Thailand compared with countries with majority-Muslim populations Senegal, Indonesia, and Malaysia. Adolescents are the group most prone to addiction \[ 19 \]. They have a strong inclination toward experimentation, curiosity, susceptibility to peer pressure, and poor self-worth, which makes them vulnerable to drug abuse \[ 10 \]. The initiation of drug use generally begins during adolescence, and the maximum usage of drugs occurs among youth aged 18—25 years \[ 9 \]. Most studies have shown that a person who takes a drug at a young age has a high risk of becoming addicted \[ 20 \] and an increased risk of substance abuse problems in the future \[ 21 \]. In addition, substances that were previously not considered illegal drugs have now become abused substances \[ 24 \]. This has led to the misuse of drugs such as marijuana or kratoms and raised concerns about addiction to more serious drugs such as cocaine or heroin. Two crucial aspects for policy-related developments in curbing drug misuse are data accuracy and availability. Unfortunately, no studies have yet been conducted on the prevalence of DSU among Malaysian youths. The available studies, conducted by stakeholders such as the Malaysian Ministry of Health, have focused on epidemiological issues rather than on drug addiction. The results do not reflect the real situation of DSU at the present time. In-depth research is therefore needed to determine the prevalence of drug involvement, especially among youths, in terms of the onset stage \[ 25 \]. This research is important for reporting the latest data on the prevalence of DSU in Malaysia. Malaysia only estimates the number of its drug addicts based on the ratio released by the World Drug Report WDR , which is for every addict arrested, there are eight other addicts still undetected \[ 1 \]. This nationwide interviewer-administered cross-sectional survey was conducted from January to July throughout Malaysia. All respondents from a selected household who met the following two criteria were included in this study: a aged 15—40 years from the definition of youth based on the Malaysian Youth Council and the Ministry of Youth and Sports, Malaysia, as stated in the Youth Societies and Youth Development Act and b without any acute psychiatric illness. Non-Malaysians were excluded from the study. Written consent was obtained from each eligible respondent prior to enrolment. The accuracy was 0. Based on complex sampling design, a sample size accounting for a design effect of 2 yielded a minimum sample size of However, to avoid over-sampling for states with lower populations or under-sampling for highly populated states, the probability-proportionate-to-size sampling PPS technique was used to estimate the number of youths in each state to whom the study had access through the DOSM statistics. This means that the total sample for the general youth population throughout Malaysia was 10, The final total number of respondents for this study included in the analyses was Figure 1. Trained enumerators administered validated instruments during the house-to-house data collection and were supervised by field managers. The components of the survey were as follows. Part A comprised the socio-demographic domain, which captured information on respondent characteristics, such as gender, age, personal income, and household income. This scale was designed and developed by an international group of researchers for the World Health Organization WHO to detect and control the symptoms of substance and drug use. In other words, ASSIST aims to identify any problems related to substance and drug use within the last 3 months quickly and effectively \[ 27 \]. ASSIST determines a risk score for each substance by placing it in a lower-risk, moderate-risk, or high-risk category. It obtains information from respondents about their lifetime use of substances, as well as problems associated with substance use acute intoxication, regular use, dependent and injecting behavior over the last three months current users. The substances studied in this test were cigarettes, alcohol, marijuana, stimulants, sedatives, and opiate drugs, as well as any other substances filled in by the participants. The data were collected electronically by the enumerators using a software application. The verification of the data was conducted by field managers and the researchers. To simplify the description of DSU prevalence in Malaysia, the drug use screening process consisted of two categories—namely, lifetime users users who at some point in their lives have used the drug before the time of assessment and current users users of the drug within the past 30 days. Next, the category of current users was subdivided into three levels of severity based on ASSIST scores—namely, mild 0—3 , moderate 4—26 , and severe 27 and above \[ 27 \]. The CSA takes into account the weighting factor W of each respondent in order to adjust for non-response and the probability of having a different number of samples needing to be adjusted according to the population. The weights W used were as follows:. PS is a post-stratification adjustment factor calculated by state, rural or urban status, age, gender, and race. In SPSS, descriptive analyses were performed to describe the characteristics of the participants, in which frequencies and percentages for demographic categories and prevalence were presented \[ 28 \]. The majority of the youths were males Most youths were single These participants had been living in their current neighborhood for about 6—10 years Most of them had completed secondary education Table 2 shows the prevalence of substance and drug use. The overall prevalence of the lifetime use of tobacco, alcohol, and drugs was The overall prevalence of current use of tobacco, alcohol, and drugs was Table 3 shows the prevalence of tobacco and alcohol consumption by age category. The analysis found that the overall prevalence of lifetime tobacco use was The prevalence rates for lifetime tobacco use and alcohol consumption were the highest among respondents aged 25 to 30 years: More concerning is the prevalence of current tobacco and alcohol use among those of secondary school age 15 to 18 years old , which was found to be 6. Table 4 shows that the overall prevalence rate of current tobacco use was The prevalence rate for current tobacco use was highest amongst respondents aged 31—40 years By contrast, the prevalence rate for current alcohol consumption was highest among respondents aged 31—40 years, accounting for approximately 4. Table 5 shows the prevalence of lifetime and current drug use by age group. The overall prevalence of lifetime drug users was 5. The prevalence of lifetime and current drug users was highest in the group aged 25—30 years, with 7. Current drug use was classified according to three levels of severity—mild 0. Table 6 compares the prevalence of current drug use by severity according to rising age groups. While the mild level of current drug use showed an S-shaped pattern with rising age, moderate and severe drug use showed an upward trend until peaking at 25—30 years of age and subsequently down-trending to 31—40 years of age. Table 7 exhibits the prevalence of drug use based on demographic profiles. Significant differences in the prevalence of lifetime and current drug use were observed in males Table 8 shows the prevalence of drug use by drug type. The highest prevalence rate for drug types used for lifetime use was for kratom or Mitragyna Speciosa 2. The highest prevalence rate by drug type for current drug use was for cannabis 1. Polydrug use is a term for the use of more than one drug or type of drug at the same time or one after another \[ 29 \]. Polydrug use can involve both illicit drugs and legal substances, such as alcohol and medications. Generally, the purpose of polydrug use is to enhance the desired effects of one drug, such as drinking alcohol while using stimulants or substituting a drug of choice for an alternative—for example, being unable to access heroin and substituting alcohol and cannabis for it instead \[ 30 \]. The prevalence of lifetime non-polydrug and polydrug use was 4. The prevalence of non-polydrug and polydrug use amongst current users was 2. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of DSU among youths aged 15 to 40 years in Malaysia. The results found that a total of Nearly one-fifth Moreover, 4. By contrast, 5. The prevalences found were higher than those previously reported in Malaysia based on the National Health and Morbidity Survey NHMS among adolescents aged 13 to 17 years in and among adults 18 years and above in \[ 15 , 30 \]. The NHMS report stated that the prevalence of current cigarette smokers was However, this study generally found lower prevalence rates compared to studies from abroad, such as in the United States, Norway, and Iran \[ 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 \]. Other factors may be due to differences in culture \[ 37 \] and social ceremonies \[ 38 , 39 \]. In addition, inherited ritual ceremonies may sometimes lead to substance intake that corresponds to social norms \[ 40 , 41 \] or to beliefs such as those reflected in orally transmitted traditions related to the substance types \[ 42 , 43 , 44 \]. Conversely, drug and alcohol consumption may also be incompatible with local norms and culture, especially for Muslims. However, a study conducted by de la Torre-Luque and colleagues \[ 17 \] found that tobacco was the substance most frequently used among adolescents in Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, and Thailand. The study findings also revealed that the prevalence of lifetime drug users among Malaysian youth was 5. The values obtained in this study were relatively high compared to the findings reported by the Institute for Public Health IPH , Ministry of Health Malaysia, in \[ 15 \]. The IPH research found that the prevalence rate was 1. A discrepancy in sampling could have caused the differences in results; the number of respondents used by NHMS was 16,, whereas this study used Their study also showed a relatively high prevalence rate In every category used, the results show that the drugs most often consumed by Malaysian youth are kratom, cannabis, and ATS. This contradicts the findings of the IPH \[ 15 \], in which cannabis was found to be the most prevalent drug. However, in the present study, for the category of drugs used within the last 30 days, the most frequently used drugs were cannabis, ATS, and kratom. By contrast, the IPH found that the drug most frequently used within the past 30 days was kratom. In addition, the prevalence rate of severe addiction among Malaysian youth was 1. The most popular drugs among addicts were ATS, cocaine, and cannabis. This corresponds to research conducted by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime UNODC in which respondents aged between 18 and 25 were found to have the highest tendency toward drug abuse, a result which can be observed in most European countries and England \[ 46 \]. The tendency toward the abuse of amphetamines and ecstasy was two to three times higher among those aged 35 years and below. Based on further UNODC research \[ 48 \], youths were found to be more likely to use prohibited substances compared to other age groups. This study was conducted during the COVID pandemic, and the unprecedented nature of this pandemic may have intensified pre-existing social determinants. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention \[ 49 \], since June there has been an increase in substance use as a way to cope with stress or emotions related to COVID Overdoses have also spiked since the onset of the pandemic. Some limitations of this study should also be considered when interpreting our findings. The survey was targeted towards youths aged 15—40 years, and since it is more likely that individuals will respond to surveys if they see topics or items that are of interest to them, those who chose to respond differ by definition from those who did not participate. Some of the selected respondents also hesitated to tell the truth about their past experiences and were unable to communicate well about what they were asked to share, especially about drug-related events and activities in the past. In addition, some respondents remained fearful and suspicious, since they were worried about how the information supplied to the researchers might be used. It is also important to be aware of the predictive limitations of cross-sectional studies, of which ours is an example: the exposure and outcome are simultaneously assessed and there is generally no evidence of a temporal relationship between exposure and outcome. Therefore, it is difficult to draw predictive conclusions based on these differences. It is recommended that an approach be used which can obtain access to sections of the populations that are more hidden and hard to reach including adolescents attending school, college students, professionals, and blue-collar workers. Overall, this study demonstrated that the current prevalence of DSU among youths in Malaysia is higher than that previously reported among adolescents and adults in Malaysia. The results also show that the drugs most frequently consumed by Malaysian youth are kratom, cannabis, and ATS. Further research is needed to confirm these findings, especially to ascertain whether the unprecedented COVID pandemic influenced the pre-existing factors disposing youth towards DSU. This study also drew attention to the urgent need to strengthen existing intervention programs, drug policies, and professional supports, or to devise improved ones, with the aim of reducing DSU among youths in Malaysia. We also thank the research team for their commitment and tireless efforts in ensuring the completion of the manuscript. Manuscript concept and drafting, R. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript. The funders had no role in the study design, data collection, or analysis, or in the preparation of the manuscript. This section collects any data citations, data availability statements, or supplementary materials included in this article. As a library, NLM provides access to scientific literature. Find articles by Rozmi Ismail. Find articles by Mohd Rizal Abdul Manaf. Find articles by Mohd Rohaizat Hassan. Find articles by Azmawati Mohammed Nawi. Find articles by Norhayati Ibrahim. Find articles by Novel Lyndon. Find articles by Noh Amit. Find articles by Ezarina Zakaria. Find articles by Muhammad Ajib Abd Razak. Find articles by Norshaffika Izzaty Zaiedy Nor. Find articles by Md Shafiin Shukor. Find articles by Aimi Fadzirul Kamarubahrin. Paul B Tchounwou : Academic Editor. Open in a new tab. Prevalence of substance tobacco and alcohol and drug use among the public. Prevalence of lifetime substance abuse by type according to age categories. Prevalence of current substance abuse by type according to age categories. Duration Lifetime Current Use No. Similar articles. Add to Collections. Create a new collection. Add to an existing collection. Choose a collection Unable to load your collection due to an error Please try again. Add Cancel. Long House. Household Income Category:. Female 5,, Divorced , T20 39,

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