Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi today called for greater global cooperation in the war against drug abuse, calling it similar to the fight against terrorism.

Abdullah, who is also Home minister, said despite efforts by the United Nations and various enforcement agencies worldwide, drug abuse and illicit trafficking continued to be rampant in every country in the world.

"The war against drugs has to be a total war and many countries have to realise this," he said.

"Since the Sept 11 tragedy, there had been a global effort to combat terrorism.

"Similarly, may I suggest that the governments of the world join forces and wage a global war against drug abuse," Abdullah said in his opening speech, read by his deputy Zainal Abidin Zin, at an international conference on drug abuse prevention in Penang.

Abdullah said drug abuse and trafficking were one of the most serious problems in Malaysia, adding that some 80 percent of drug addicts arrested every year were between the ages of 15 to 39.

"What worries the government, and I am sure your government too, is that most addicts identified are youths," he told participants of the conference.

The drug agency recorded 31,556 drug addicts in 2001 in Malaysia, many of them hooked on heroin.

Most effective

Abdullah in his speech defended Malaysia's tough drug laws, which prescribe the death penalty for trafficking in most narcotics.

"Our laws are meant to protect our people, our children and our loved ones. They who dabble in the trade know full well the consequences of their action," he said.

The United States' deputy director of the Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, Thom Browne, was quoted by the official Bernama news agency saying Malaysia's fight against drugs abuse was among the world's most effective.

Browne predicted that Malaysia's actions against illegal narcotics will make it a a drug-free country by 2015.

The five-day conference was attended by 300 international participants from 44 countries.