Stakeholders: Decriminalising minor drug offences, offering rehabilitation the way to go

PETALING JAYA: The proposed new law to decriminalise minor drug offences in a bid to solve the issue of overcrowding in prisons will provide drug offenders a fresh start and a second chance at life instead, say the stakeholders.

If it is introduced, convicted drug offenders will receive treatment instead of punishment after being certified by medical officers, and would be taken to rehabilitation centres.

At present, drug offenders face a fine not exceeding RM5,000 or a maximum jail term of two years under Section 15(1) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 upon conviction.

Entrepreneur Tim Low, a former drug user, said placing them in rehabilitation centres will prevent them from being labelled as criminals for the rest of their lives due to imprisonment.

He said a lot of drug users get hooked for various reasons.

In Malaysia and Singapore, there are women who use drugs because they are in tough financial situations. For men, some may be immature, have low self-esteem or even suffer from mental problems, he added.

“Instead of being labelled a criminal and having a record, those who recover from their addiction should be given a second chance in life without self-discrimination and societal stigma,” he said.

Low, who became clean two years ago after nine years of using drugs and now runs a successful business, insisted that recovery is possible.

He joined LEV8 Malaysia, an NGO providing drug addiction recovery support.

He said abstaining from drugs is the best solution.

However, this can only be done with public and private partnerships as users will require counselling and support, he added.

Low did caution that recommendations for rehabilitation should also be done on a case-to-case basis as some users could be involved in other criminal offences, often domestic violence and theft.

“Currently, Malaysia adopts harm reduction techniques but abstinence is the best way to go because we want people to be out of it totally instead of reducing the consequences of drug use,” he told The Star about the proposed new law.

Moving away from draconian laws is important because not all drug users are criminals, said Malaysian Substance Abuse Council secretary-general Raja Azizan Suhaimi.

“Not all drug users are addicts. There are some who are casual users and you put them in jail because they cannot pay the fine.

“This does not produce results because there is no intervention to stop them from using the substance again,” he said.

“Addiction is a chronic relapsing mental health disease, which means it involves psychosis, so using Section 15(1) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 will ruin the future of the person, especially the younger ones.

“Now is the time for the government to make a clear stand on whether to treat addiction as a crime or a disease,” he said.

When they get charged in court and then jailed, it becomes a permanent record, which taints their whole life, he added.

Raja Azizan said placing offenders in rehabilitation centres will also reduce the number of inmates in prisons, which are currently overcrowded.

“We should provide an option to the users with the right kind of intervention, not just medical treatment. With the right approach to the issue, the intervention programme will bear fruit,” he said.

National Society of Skilled Workers secretary-general Mohammad Rizan Hassan agreed that the government should be clear on its stand on addiction.

It needs to be seen as a disease, and offenders must be treated and rehabilitated without being sent to prison, he said.

“Drug addiction cases have never gone down, so we have to change how we deal with the issue. If it is a disease, then we need to prepare a complete ecosystem to treat addicts as patients.

“This new law will also reduce the number of addicts in prison by placing them in institutions or community rehabilitation centres,” he said.

Mohammad Rizan also said recovery will not be easy.

“It can be described as a lifelong endeavour because drug addiction is a long-term and recurring disease.

“The process could be more difficult if the addicts have to serve their sentences alone in prison, far away and isolated from their families,” he said.

Recently, Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said the government was studying the prospect of carrying out home detention and suspended sentences with intervention by prison officers as part of the new law.

He said the initiatives would serve as a transformation for prisons and detention centres, prioritise the humanitarian elements, especially offenders who have health problems, and reduce congestion in prisons as well.

According to Saifuddin Nasution, the new legislation would be called Drug and Substance Abuse (Treatment and Rehabilitation) Act.