Treating drug addiction is far cheaper and effective than throwing a person behind bars, according to Prof Dr Mohamad Hussain Habil (photo, above).

The dean of Mahsa Universiti's Medical Department said the government currently spends RM3,500 per day for each addict at Pusat Serenti rehabilitation centres - but almost 95 percent of them suffer from relapse.

“Meanwhile, the treatment approach only requires RM300 a month and relapse occurs in just five percent (of those who have undergone treatment),” Hussain told Malaysiakini.

He was commenting on Home Minister Muhyiddin Yassin's statement that drug addicts should not be seen as criminals to be punished, but rather as people requiring treatment and rehabilitation.

Emphasising that treatment is the best option, the professor said research has been carried out on this method since 2000.

“Putting an addict in prison or Pusat Serenti has been practised since the 1980s. However, the impact is bad.

“The situation is worsened when inmates contract diseases like TB, HIV and AIDS. This is from a medical perspective. From a social perspective, they lose their jobs or have trouble securing employment after being released,” he added.

Hussain also noted that most addicts come from poor families.

“When they are arrested, their wives have no income, the children end up on the streets. Families are ruined. So I believe imprisonment is not the best option,” he said.

If the addicts are allowed to seek treatment instead, he added, they would be able to continue working and supporting their families.

Hussain, a former president of the Asean Psychiatric Association, stressed that from an economic perspective, the government would be able to save hundreds of millions of ringgit if it practised the treatment option.

“Since 1983, the government has spent RM380 million for prisons and rehabilitation centres. However, the number of drug addicts continued to increase.

“So, the time has come for the government to review the process,” he said, adding that rehabilitation through treatment should be conducted by government accredited doctors.

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