Peer pressure caused many to experiment, research shows
KUALA LUMPUR: Many youths are taking drugs out of curiosity or under peer influence, with a significant number obtaining the substances themselves, according to a recent government study on youth behaviour.
Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail (pic) told Parliament that the comprehensive study – by the Youth and Sports Ministry through the Malaysian Youth Research and Development Institute in collaboration with the National Anti-Drugs Agency – focused on the 15-30 age group in high-risk areas.
The research, titled “Study on Youth Behaviour in Substance Abuse in Selected High-Risk Areas”, ran from last September to February.
Saifuddin Nasution said the survey of 249 respondents found that youths cited curiosity (30.1%), stress (20.9%) and peer influence (18.9%) as main reasons for taking drugs.
Other factors included seeking pleasure (9.6%), work-related issues (9.2%), and other reasons such as to sleep, gain energy or sell (4.5%), seeking calm (3.6%), being influenced (2.0%) or mistreated by friends (1.2%).
He said the study also revealed that most respondents purchased drugs themselves (53.4%), while others obtained them from friends (43%), family members (2%) or other sources (1.6%).
Saifuddin Nasution highlighted a worrying upward trend in youth drug abuse between 2022 and 2024 with the number involved increasing from 85,657 in 2022 to 90,520 in 2023, surging to 116,245 in 2024 – a 28.4% rise.
In the first half of 2025 alone, 78,674 youths were recorded, with 84% abusing amphetamine-type stimulants.
“The study concluded that the main drivers for youth involvement in drug abuse was the desire to try, to relieve stress and peer influence,” he said in a written parliamentary reply yesterday to Bukit Gelugor MP Ramkarpal Singh.
The MP had asked whether a comprehensive study would be conducted to identify the main causes pushing youths, particularly those in desperate circumstances, into drug distribution or becoming drug mules.
