KUALA LUMPUR: The government will speed up efforts to decriminalise drug addiction by setting up a special committee to deal with the issue effectively and
comprehensively.
Youth and Sports Minister Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman (pic) said the committee comprising the Youth and Sports Ministry, Home Ministry and the Chief Secretary to the government was formed on the orders of Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad at a Cabinet meeting last week.
“This issue was raised and discussed in depth regarding the government’s efforts to decriminalise drug addiction and at the last cabinet meeting it was agreed to set up a special committee to expedite the process.
“The committee will ensure that this issue can be resolved quickly by discussing how to distinguish between addicts and drug dealers as well as methods to help them find an alternative to prison sentence,” he told a press conference at the Parliament lobby here yesterday.
Based on the 2018 statistics, there were 18,967 drug addiction cases involving young people which was triple the 6,300 cases involving adults, he said.
He added that it was time for the government to focus on rehabilitation instead of punishment as many addicts from poor families were forced to plead guilty and be imprisoned.
Asked how the government would separate between drug addicts, abusers and traffickers, he said the committee would take into account several factors.
In June, Health Minister Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad announced that the government planned to remove criminal penalties for possessing and using a small quantity of drugs for personal use.
He said the issue of drug use and addiction should be looked at from medical aspects. – Bernama
