The government needs to stop criminalising drug addicts as it is a waste of taxpayers’ money and instead focus on chasing after drug traffickers, anti-AIDS activists said today.

In a bid to change Malaysian’s mindset, the Malaysian AIDS Council (MAC) today launched a global-backed campaign to help drug abusers, urging people to ‘Support. Don’t Punish’ them. In conjunction with ‘International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking’, the campaign not only hopes to prevent the spread of HIV in Malaysia but also to reverse nearly four decades of wrong-footed police work.

Although there has been a significant reduction in transmission of the Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) virus between drug abusers and an increase via sexual activities instead, MAC said its battle against drug addiction must not let up.

“It’s time we realise that drug addiction is a medical problem. Once someone becomes an addict - like alcohol, smoking or gambling - something physical happens and it is not easy to stop.

“By punishing them, we are not helping them,” MAC president Dr Raj Karim ( left in photo ) told reporters at a press conference in Kuala Lumpur.

The campaign was backed by medical practisioners, including Dr Adeeba Kamarulzaman, the dean of the Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Malaya (UM).

Dr Adeeba said that Centre of Excellence for Research in AIDS (Ceria) have presented studies to the government, showing ‘harm reduction services’ such as syringe exchange programme and methadone maintenance therapy can really help. Some 12,653 new HIV infections have been averted since 2006, saving the government RM47.1 million in direct health costs, she said.

Malaysia currently provides free medication for stage one AIDS patients but cost to treat stage two and stage three cases escalates.

When it comes to the war against drugs, “police need to arrest the big fish that often get away,” Dr Adeeba said.

“The small fries end up in prison for two years and cause us Malaysian taxpayers more money. People who use drugs need help and we need to stop this crazy merry-go-round of arrest-imprison-release-arrest and imprison again,” she added.

Although she said that campaign was not a blitz to promote methadone as a cure for drug addiction, MAC presented two former drug addicts at the press conference who testified to the effectiveness of the alternative cure.

After being addicted to street drugs like heroin for nearly 20 years and was imprisoned over four times, 40-year old Hamdan Isnin said that he has weaned off the habit. Since 2010, with regular intakes of methadone, he has returned to work as a mechanic and had recently started a family. Hamdan brought his wife and  five-month-old son along to help back the campaign.

‘Anti-drug laws need a revamp’

Dr Sangeet Kaur, an official from the National Anti-Drug Agency (NADA), meanwhile argued that anti-drug laws in Malaysia need a revamp.

Noting that Malaysian government has no comprehensive written drug policies, Dr Sangeet said that Malaysian police largely rely on the Drug Policies Act 1952 to arrest and imprison or put someone away for compulsory treatment for up to two years based on a urine test.

“Now, new substances are being abused and those are primitive law that need to be reviewed,” Dr Sangeet said. She added that under her division, NADA runs some 18 methadone clinics to help drug addicts fit back into society and they have had some success.

Dr Adeeba pointed out that making drug abusers the country’s prime enemy was also a justice issue.

“How many rich kids end up in the centres? They can get away with it. This is about equality,” she said.

“The people who are sent to the gallows are poor people, people who don’t know their rights.”

She pointed out that current drug abuse laws were severe as they did not differentiate between softer drugs like marijuana and opium or harder drugs such as amphetamine or heroin.

Dr Adeeba said that it was surely inhumane to hang someone for carrying just 200 grammes of marijuana. This was equivalent to smoking two cartons of cigarettes.

The ‘Support. Don’t Punish’ campaign is a one-day campaign that will include a mobile exhibition at Central Market today followed by dissemination of flyers at nightclubs along Jalan P Ramlee tonight.

Globally, the campaign is backed by over 100 NGOs. In Malaysia, it is spearheaded by MAC, an umbrella-body of 47 community-based and civil society organisations. Malaysian can join in at #supportdontpunish or tweet @SDPcampaign.

'Diploma of student with HIV withheld'