DPM: No legalising of dangerous drugs
‘We will not heed any resolution on the issue’
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia will not heed any international resolution from any organisation, including the United Nations, that seeks to legalise the possession of drugs for personal use, says Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
“The Malaysian Government will not compromise on our drug policy, although there is a resolution to be made by international bodies on decriminalising dangerous drugs.
“We believe that for as long as drug addiction is not 100% eradicated, social issues related to addiction will still occur, so we will not comply with international efforts to legalise them.
“To us, legalising drugs is against the norm for an advanced human race,” he told reporters after launching the 42nd Malaysian Drug Prevention Association ( Pemadam) general assembly here yesterday.
Earlier in a welcoming speech, Deputy Home Minister Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed said if the UN passes a resolution to legalise drugs for personal use, Malaysia will have to review its own laws on the matter, which will affect the current “zero-tolerance” policy on drugs.
The UN and the World Health Organisation had in January this year issued a joint statement calling for the repeal of punitive laws that were allegedly “proven to have negative health outcomes”.
Among other measures, the international bodies had called for member states to legalise the possession of drugs for personal use.
Dr Ahmad Zahid, who is Home Minister, noted that Malaysia’s efforts were not just to eradicate the abuse of synthetic drugs, but to ensure newer types of dangerous substances were also detected and banned.
“Amendments to the Dangerous Drugs Act have already been passed, but we are aware of newer types of drugs and we are making efforts to include them in the Act’s schedules,” he said.
He was referring to the rising trend of new psychotropic drugs, which are undetectable in regular drug tests and only show negative effects after prolonged usage.
Dr Ahmad Zahid also acknowledged that the Government had failed to curb the rising drug addiction and relapse rate, but insisted that it was not the end of the road.
“Don’t develop a denial syndrome, just say we have failed. Governments, NGOs, families and communities must all work together to eradicate this problem,” he added.
He also announced a RM10mil annual allocation to anti-drug and rehabilitation NGOs to be distributed by the National Anti-Drug Agency starting next year.
However, he warned that should the drug addiction numbers not drop by at least half by Dec 31, 2018, future allocations will be cancelled.
Malaysia’s drug addiction cases reached 30,847 last year, a 14% increase compared to 26,668 cases in 2015.
Statistics also revealed more new addicts, with 22,925 cases last year compared to 20,821 cases in 2015.