KUALA LUMPUR – Healthcare practitioners have advocated for the Health Ministry to assume responsibility for managing the Drug and Substance Abuse (Prevention, Treatment, and Rehabilitation) Bill, currently overseen by the Home Ministry.
According to addiction and mental health treatment expert Dr Prem Kumar Shanmugam, rehabilitative efforts for those struggling with substance abuse might not be properly addressed if the bill remains under the oversight of the Home Ministry.
“If we don’t let the Health Ministry manage (the bill), there will be problems for professionals as we’ll still be reporting to the Home Ministry which comes in with a punitive mentality,” the psychologist and psychotherapist told Scoop during an exclusive interview.
Prem was speaking on the sidelines of the Evolving Treatment Methodologies in Addiction Conference 2024 which was held on March 21 and 22.
Noting that drug addiction issues in the nation have been managed by the Home Ministry due to the legal implications, Prem stressed that the bill must highlight how addiction is a disease that requires treatment instead of punishment.
“Decriminalisation (of substance abuse) itself is a concept that not many people understand yet,” said Prem, who is also the founder and chief executive officer of Solace Asia, a rehabilitation centre dedicated to the holistic treatment of addiction.
“It’s not about legalising drugs, (so) policymakers trying to define the concept need to work with professionals such as doctors, psychologists, and other practitioners in the health industry to ensure that the public is educated (on the subject).
“Take Thailand, for example. They have failed badly (in their handling of legalising recreational cannabis use).
“The (initial) decision caused chaos in the nation, and now they’re going back on the policy. We cannot afford to do that in Malaysia,” he added.
Last month, it was reported that Thailand intends to ban recreational use of marijuana by the end of this year while continuing to allow the use of the drug for medicinal purposes.
The new law, which is expected to regulate cannabis use, follows Thailand becoming the first Southeast Asian country to allow the medicinal usage of cannabis in 2018 and then for recreational purposes in 2022.
Malaysia’s Home Ministry said in July last year that its Drug and Substance Abuse (Prevention, Treatment and Rehabilitation) Bill is estimated to be tabled in Parliament this year. If passed, it will replace the Drug Dependants (Treatment and Rehabilitation) Act 1983.
Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said then that the bill would see offenders found with small amounts of drugs being sent to rehabilitation centres under the National Anti-Drugs Agency instead of facing incarceration, thus reducing congestion in prison facilities.
He also said that the bill would decriminalise offences where small amounts of drugs are found on a person who either owns or uses the substance.
Outright ban on drugs – compounding problems in harm reduction?
Retired Australian physician Dr Alex Wodak, who was also present for the interview, posited that efforts to decriminalise drug abuse must be coupled with moves towards improving the nation’s rehabilitative treatment system.
The former International Harm Reduction Association president pointed to Portugal’s policy on drugs, particularly how in July 2001, Portugal decriminalised the personal use and possession of all illicit drugs, including cannabis, cocaine, and heroin.
“The whole truth is that they (Portugal) did that and also dramatically expanded and improved its drug (addiction) treatment system. The government has changed a few times since then, and the policy has been tweaked slightly, but it’s still the same policy,” Wodak said.
“It’s now widely recognised that the approach where we rely heavily on blunt law enforcement’s attempts to stop the use of drugs is an extensive way to make a bad problem worse.”
The ex-director of the alcohol and drug service in St. Vincent’s Hospital, Sydney, also said that politicians supporting “prohibition-style policies” designed to eliminate all usages of a drug often will reap temporary positive results but are destined to see such a policy fail.
“Legal and illegal drugs are a huge problem that affects almost every country in the world. There are problems across the board spanning health, social, and economic costs, all of which Malaysia has experienced.
“The overriding principle should be to focus on reducing such costs rather than eliminating drug use. We can try to decrease drug usage, but our real focus should be on harm reduction,” he said.
Wodak also commended Malaysia for passing the Control of Smoking Products for Public Health Bill 2023, paving the way for the government to regulate cigarettes, vapes, and other smoking products.
“Annually, smoking results in more deaths than the consumption of alcohol, prescription pills, illicit drugs, and suicide combined in Australia, which is going through a ridiculous attempt to try and criminalise vaping.
“This is destined to not only fail but also make a bad problem much worse. Australia has to learn from what Malaysia is doing and base its policies on reality, not the world, as something that we would like it to be (with) no drugs or vaping). Unfortunately, that’s not the real world,” he added. – March 24, 2024