SINGAPORE — The ease of obtaining synthetic drugs and a high relapse rates among addicts are why Malaysia is sounding the alarm over its losing battle against narcotics, experts say.

Malaysia’s anti-narcotics war centres on education, rehabilitation as well as harsh penalties for drug abuse, but the country’s national anti-drug agency (AADK) says the main challenge lies in eradicating synthetic drugs like methamphetamine, ecstasy and ketamine, which can easily be produced in homes factories.

“Most addicts nowadays are hooked on synthetic drugs because it is easily available,” AADK’s director-general Abdul Halim Hussein told TODAY.

The agency comes under the purview of the Home Affairs ministry and is tasked with tackling the drug menace in the country.

Unlike heroin and marijuana addicts who tend to get their fix in back alleys and well-known haunts across the country — making it easier for authorities to nab them — users of synthetic drugs typically use the Internet and encrypted apps such as WhatsApp to obtain their illicit goods.

This makes it harder for the authorities to trace and nab both the suppliers and users, said Mr Abdul Halim, adding that abusers of synthetic drugs are also not necessarily from the lower rugs of society, with many being successful professionals and even students.

The country’s drug menace has alarmed the country’s leaders, with deputy prime minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi publicly admitting last month that the government had failed in its war on drugs due to the rising number of addicts, which went up from 26,668 in 2015 to 30,847 last year in 2016.

In the same period, the number of new addicts has also risen from 20,281 to 22,295.

Also, random tests conducted in 2015 on 36,675 schoolchildren found that 1,475 of them tested positive for drugs.

Of these, 1,075 children, or 73 per cent, tested positive for amphetamine-type stimulants, while the rest were for cannabis-related drugs.

Additionally, between January 2014 and October 2016, 702,319 individuals were detained by police for trafficking and possessing drugs, according to statistics from the Malaysian police.

Of the total, 21,371 arrests involved offences which carry a mandatory death penalty.

The Malaysian parliament last month voted to remove the mandatory penalty, giving judges discretionary power in sentencing drug offenders.

“We have to admit that our efforts had failed but it does not mean we have to stop at it. We should not be in denial, we must to our failure,” said Mr Zahid.

“Those who were involved in the drugs syndicate have outsmarted us and this is why we failed. Now we have to be smarter than them.”

A key factor behind the authorities’ failure to keep the problem in check is the high recidivism rates of addicts.

The figures tell the story.

Pengasih Malaysia, one of the country’s biggest drug rehabilitation centres, has treated more than 3,500 addicts at its nine centres nationwide since its founding in 1987, with an average relapse rate of 40 per cent.

This dovetailed with a 2016 study by AADK on 12,362 addicts which found that 4,919 or 39.8 per cent relapsed after undergoing rehabilition. The rest were successfully rehabilitated.

Mr Yunus Pathi, the founder and president of Pengasih, attributed the high relapse rates to a lack of “recovery capital”, meaning the absence of family, community and religious support and difficulties in securing employment.

“Recovery capital is very important, you need this when you leave the rehab centre or it will be very difficult to be absorbed back into society,” he said, adding that those who undergo rehabilitation also need to be fully committed in turning over a new leaf.

“Drugs is not a problem, it is people taking it that is the problem. People turn to drugs because they want to escape their problems... to feel better.”

While Malaysia has said it will not be emulating Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte’s extrajudicial crackdown on drug pushers, more public health approaches are needed to resolve its currrent drug problems, said Universiti Sains Malaysia’s Centre for Drug Research director Prof B Vicknasingam.

Currently, Malaysia’s drug policies are mostly centred around criminalisation and punishment, which some right groups said have not been successful in reducing its drugs problem.

Dr Vicknasingam said addicts cannot be forced to simply kick their habit as drug abuse can lead to neurological changes, resulting in powerful cravings and a compulsion to take drugs that make overcoming the addiction seem like an impossible goal.

“With advancement in science, we now know that chronic drug use affects the brains of addicts and continuing to incarcerate them will not help. They need to be treated,” he said.

“Also we need to understand that it is a relapsing disorder and it may take some time for them to get better. Tobacco addiction is also the same. How many smokers are able to quit at the first attempt? Not many. So, if quitting smoking is difficult then quitting drug use is much more difficult as the drugs are more addictive.”

One of the health-based approach is the usage of methadone, introduced by the country some 15 years ago, which Mr Halim of AADK said has shown some positive results.

Methadone is used as a medical-assisted therapy to treat severe addiction of drugs, such as opium, morphine and heroin. It is being offered at some clinics run jointly run by AADK and the Health Ministry.

“Addicts (who have undergone methadone treatment) have gained stable employment and stayed clean, which are critical to a successful transition, giving hope to even the most hardcore drug addict,” said Mr Halim.