Southeast Asian countries including Malaysia play a major role in global drug trade and abuse. Use of amphetamine-type stimulants has increased in the past decade in Malaysia. Methamphetamines, known as "shabu," across much of Southeast Asia, have been on the rise for years and addiction specialists are running out of solutions. Therefore, this study intentions to explore the perspective and experience of Meth. clients who is undergoing a rehabilitation program at the Narcotic Addiction Rehabilitation Centre, Tampin, Melaka (Puspen Tampin, Melaka) through an interpretive phenomenological approach. This study was conducted through in-depth interviews with seven male informants in 2022. Clients' perspectives and experiences of their involvement in Meth abuse well documented through the elements of (1) the trend of Meth. abuse, (2) the impact of Meth abuse, and (3) behavioural contradictions of Meth abuse with self-rationalized thinking. As a conclusion, this present study illustrated attention to the urgent need to strengthen existing intervention programs, drug policies, and professional supports, or to devise improved ones, with the aim of reducing Meth. abuse in Malaysia.
Bolinski, R. S., Walters, S., Salisbury-Afshar, E., Ouellet, L. J., Jenkins, W. D., Almirol, E., ... & Pho, M. T. (2022). The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on drug use behaviors, fentanyl exposure, and harm reduction service support among people who use drugs in rural settings. International journal of environmental research and public health, 19(4), 2230.
Brecht, M. L., O'Brien, A., Von Mayrhauser, C., & Anglin, M. D. (2004). Methamphetamine use behaviors and gender differences. Addictive behaviors, 29(1), 89-106.
Campbell, R. J., Bronskill, S. E., Bell, C. M., Paterson, J. M., Whitehead, M., & Gill, S. S. (2010). Rapid expansion of intravitreal drug injection procedures, 2000 to 2008: a population-based analysis. Archives of Ophthalmology, 128(3), 359-362.
Carbone-Lopez, K., Rennison, C. M., & Macmillan, R. (2012). The transcendence of violence across relationships: new methods for understanding men’s and women’s experiences of intimate partner violence across the life course. Journal of quantitative criminology, 28, 319-346.
Creswell, J. W. (2011). Controversies in mixed methods research. The Sage handbook of qualitative research, 4(1), 269-284.
Creswell, J. W., & Miller, D. L. (2000). Determining validity in qualitative inquiry. Theory into practice, 39(3), 124-130.
Cunningham, R. M., Bernstein, S. L., Walton, M., Broderick, K., Vaca, F. E., Woolard, R., ... & D’onofrio, G. (2009). Alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs: future directions for screening and intervention in the emergency department. Academic Emergency Medicine, 16(11), 1078-1088.
Darshan, S., Suresh, N., Krishnan, H., Balber, S & Balasingam, V. (2020). The relationship between amphetamine-type stimulant (ATS) use and violent crime in Penang, Malaysia: findings from a preliminary study. Drug: Education, Prevention and Policy. 1-10.
Englander, M. (2012). The interview: Data collection in descriptive phenomenological human scientific research. Journal of phenomenological psychology, 43(1), 13-35.
Ezarina Zakaria. (2020). Jenayah Jalanan dan Sumber Pekerjaan. Dlm. Fauziah Ibrahim, Ezarina Zakaria & Norulhuda Sarnon. Jenayah Jalanan Isu, Punca dan Mekanisme Pencegahan, hlm 68-79. Bangi: Penerbit UKM
Fast, D., Kerr, T., Wood, E., & Small, W. (2014). The multiple truths about crystal meth among young people entrenched in an urban drug scene: A longitudinal ethnographic investigation. Social science & medicine, 110, 41-48.
Fauziah Ibrahim. (2020). Dadah dan Penglibatan Jenayah Jalanan. Dlm. Fauziah Ibrahim, Ezarina Zakaria & Norulhuda Sarnon. Jenayah Jalanan Isu, Punca dan Mekanisme Pencegahan, hlm 68-79. Bangi: Penerbit UKM.
Fernández-Montalvo, J., López-Goñi, J. J., & Arteaga, A. (2012). Violent behaviors in drug addiction: differential profiles of drug-addicted patients with and without violence problems. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 27(1), 142-157.
Fleming, V., Gaidys, U., & Robb, Y. (2003). Hermeneutic research in nursing: developing a Gadamerian?based research method. Nursing inquiry, 10(2), 113-120.
Galea, S., Merchant, R. M., & Lurie, N. (2020). The mental health consequences of COVID-19 and physical distancing: the need for prevention and early intervention. JAMA internal medicine, 180(6), 817-818.
Gili, A., Bacci, M., Aroni, K., Nicoletti, A., Gambelunghe, A., Mercurio, I., & Gambelunghe, C. (2021). Changes in drug use patterns during the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy: monitoring a vulnerable group by hair analysis. International journal of environmental research and public health, 18(4), 1967.
Heidegger, M. (1977). Basic writings: from Being and time (1927) to the task of thinking (1964).
Hoffmann, L., Schumann, N., & Richter, M. (2017). Methamphetamine use in central Germany: a qualitative study on consumer groups and motives from the experts' perspective. Psychotherapy, Psychosomatic, Medicines Psychology, 68(8), 329-336.
Hoffmann, L., Schumann, N., & Richter, M. (2017). Methamphetamine use in central Germany: a qualitative study on consumer groups and motives from the experts' perspective. Psychotherapie, Psychosomatik, Medizinische Psychologie, 68(8), 329-336.
Hotton, A., Quinn, K., Schneider, J., & Voisin, D. (2019). Exposure to community violence and substance use among Black men who have sex with men: examining the role of psychological distress and criminal justice involvement. AIDS care, 31(3), 370-378.
Kim, D., Kobayashi, T., Voisin, B., Jo, J. H., Sakamoto, K., Jin, S. P., ... & Nagao, K. (2020). Targeted therapy guided by single-cell transcriptomic analysis in drug-induced hypersensitivity syndrome: a case report. Nature medicine, 26(2), 236-243.
Langfield, C.T & Payne, J.L. (2021). What Factors Predict the Self-Identification of Drug Dependency Among Australian Police Detainees? Prevalence, Correlates, and Implications for the Criminal Justice System. Journal of Drug Issues. 51(1), 3-22
Lappin, J. M., Roxburgh, A., Kaye, S., Chalmers, J., Sara, G., Dobbins, T., ... & Farrell, M. (2016). Increased prevalence of self-reported psychotic illness predicted by crystal methamphetamine use: evidence from a high-risk population. International Journal of Drug Policy, 38, 16-20.
Lin, S. Y., Fried, E. I., & Eaton, N. R. (2020). The association of life stress with substance use symptoms: A network analysis and replication. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 129(2), 204–214.
Mahony, R., Richards, A., Deighton, C., & Scott, D. (2010). Withdrawal of disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Annals of the rheumatic diseases, 69(10), 1823-1826.
Maxwell, J. A. (2012). Qualitative research design: An interactive approach. Sage publications.
Maxwell, J. C. (2014). Psychoactive substances—Some new, some old: A scan of the situation in the US. Drug and alcohol dependence, 134, 71-77.
Moszczynska, A., & Callan, S. P. (2017). Molecular, behavioral, and physiological consequences of methamphetamine neurotoxicity: implications for treatment. Journal of pharmacology and experimental therapeutics, 362(3), 474-488.
Neupert, S. D., Desmarais, S. L., Gray, J. S., Cohn, A. M., Doherty, S., & Knight, K. (2017). Daily stressors as antecedents, correlates, and consequences of alcohol and drug use and cravings in community-based offenders. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 31(3), 315.
Norliza, C., Norni, A., Anandjit, S., & MI, M. F. (2014). A review of substance abuse research in Malaysia. The Medical Journal of Malaysia, 69, 55-58.
O’Keefe, D., Bluthenthal, R. N., Kral, A. H., Aitken, C. K., McCormack, A., & Dietze, P. M. (2019). Measures of harm reduction service provision for people who inject drugs. Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 97(9), 605.
Orsi, M. M., Brochu, S., Lafortune, D., & Patenaude, C. (2014). Factors associated with the motivation to use psychoactive substances and the motivation to change in adolescents in an authoritarian context. Children and Youth Services Review, 39, 11-19.
Pringle, J., Drummond, J., McLafferty, E., & Hendry, C. (2011). Interpretative phenomenological analysis: A discussion and critique. Nurse researcher, 18(3).
Rahmadona, E., & Agustin, H. (2014). Faktor yang berhubungan dengan penyalahgunaan narkoba di rsj prof. hb. sa’anin. Jurnal Kesehatan Masyarakat Andalas, 8(2), 60-66.
Richard, B. F., & Jeremy, S. (2020). Committing Economic Crime for Drug Money. Crime & Delinquency. 63(4), 375-390
Rodriguez, L. M., Litt, D. M., & Stewart, S. H. (2020). Drinking to cope with the pandemic: The unique associations of COVID-19-related perceived threat and psychological distress to drinking behaviors in American men and women. Addictive behaviors, 110, 106532.
Saito, M., Hirata-Koizumi, M., Matsumoto, M., Urano, T., & Hasegawa, R. (2005). Undesirable effects of citrus juice on the pharmacokinetics of drugs: focus on recent studies. Drug Safety, 28, 677-694.
Schmidt, I. M., Hübner, S., Nadal, J., Titze, S., Schmid, M., Bärthlein, B., ... & Eckardt, K. U. (2019). Patterns of medication use and the burden of polypharmacy in patients with chronic kidney disease: the German Chronic Kidney Disease study. Clinical kidney journal, 12(5), 663-672.
Sebastian, A., Forstmann, B. U., & Matzke, D. (2018). Towards a model-based cognitive neuroscience of stopping–a neuroimaging perspective. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 90, 130-136
Sheridan, S. M., Edwards, C. P., Marvin, C. A., & Knoche, L. L. (2009). Professional development in early childhood programs: Process issues and research needs. Early education and development, 20(3), 377-401.
Smith, B., & Sparkes, A. C. (2009). Narrative inquiry in sport and exercise psychology: What can it mean, and why might we do it? Psychology of sport and exercise, 10(1), 1-11.
Sujit Kumar Sarker, & Faller, Erwin Martinez (2016) An exploratory framework of drug related crime in forensic sciences and criminology. Malaysian Applied Biology, 45(2), 93-97
Tufford, L., & Newman, P. (2010). Bracketing in qualitative social work. Qualitative Social Work, 11, 80-96.
Wand, A. P. F., Zhong, B. L., Chiu, H. F. K., Draper, B., & De Leo, D. (2020). COVID-19: the implications for suicide in older adults. International psychogeriatrics, 32(10), 1225-1230.
Wu, N. S., Schairer, L. C., Dellor, E., & Grella, C. (2010). Childhood trauma and health outcomes in adults with comorbid substance abuse and mental health disorders. Addictive behaviors, 35(1), 68-71.
