KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 20- Kedah recorded 17,278 arrests in drug abuse cases as of August 2024, an increase of 17.3 percent compared to 14,284 cases throughout last year.

Deputy Home Minister Datuk Seri Dr Shamsul Anuar Nasarah announced that out of the total, Pendang district recorded 1,116 arrest cases until August.

He also said that the statistics of drug treatment and rehabilitation clients in Pendang involve 462 individuals, which is part of the total of 5,960 clients undergoing treatment throughout Kedah as of last September.

"In Pendang, statistics also show that the age range for rehabilitation treatment clients in the community are between 19 and 39 years old. In terms of racial composition, 454 clients are from the Malay race, while the rest (eight people) are from other races," he said when answering a question from a Pendang Member of Parliament Datuk Awang Hashim in the Dewan Rakyat today.

The increase in cases reflects the continued need for enforcement and rehabilitation programmes in the community to combat the issue of drug abuse in the state.