TASK 2B.

TASK 2B.

DRUG ADDICTION : ITS NEGATIVE EFFECTS TOWARDS OUR ECONOMY

Everything have their own pros and contras . Drug,which can be called as a ‘miracle’ in medical field due to its sedative effects,has been abused for donkey years. The latest news about this issue is that an average of 55 new cases was detected every day. Public has already been informed about the bad effects of drug abuse on health and society but, they do not realize that this problem will affect Malaysians’ economy as well. This essay will discuss about the negative impacts of drug abuse on economy.

The most obvious thing is that government has been spending too much for rehabilitating drug addicts. By 2004, the number of drug addicts in this country was nearly 1 million and this number is still increasing until now. To handle this worrying issue , there are almost 30 rehabilitation centers or ‘pusat serenti’ were built by government .Unfortunately,in order to run the centers, it costs money to the government, and the money of government is the money of people who do not abuse the drug use. They struggle to pay taxes without realizing that a huge amount of their money is spent on drug addicts who often commit crimes and give trouble to them.

Other than that, by spending too much to tackle the problem, the government has been investing on something that do not give any profits. Recently ,National Drug Agency(AADK) has registered more than 300 000 drug addicts in its drug fight. Government had spent Rm 70 million for Harm Reduction Program for drug addicts that have HIV and AIDS .The bad thing is, as we know, drug addicts usually cannot change their bad habit easily. They end up entering and go out of the rehabilitation centers for repeatedly. They do not contribute anything to our economy at all. In fact, drug addicts spend about Rm 1800 to Rm 1500 to buy drug, contributing to the sum of Rm 2 million a year. On what basis do government has to waste for them. If the drug addicts had spent the money for starting a business or in increasing their productivity in their works, they might have contributed something to economy. Unfortunately, they did not do so.

Besides, the wasted money should be spent for other needs. Government has spent almost Rm 500 million per year for organizing campaigns and programs for drug addicts. The money supposedly spent for the charity of underprivileged children and poor families in this country. If the money is spent to help people in Gaza, more innocent lives can be saved. This is better rather than helping those ungrateful drug addicts. Taxes that have been paid by public should be used to enhance the quality of public facilities. For instance, government can provides more buses and trains as there are a lot of complains regarding to the lack of these two public transportation.

In the nutshell, it can be concluded that the programs for drug addicts show no progress and are full of uncertainty about the effectiveness. Malaysians’ economy has been affected greatly without gaining any benefit. Government should re-plan the way the money is handled. People may wonder about what will happen to drug addicts if government is no longer wants to help them. Actually, government should reduce the budget for tackling the drug abuse and use the money on beneficial things. Rehabilitating a drug addicts is good but, helping those who are really in need is more important.

By,

FAEIZAH AYUNI BT JAMIL