The Malaysian Bar said they support the government’s move to decriminalise drug use as many lawyers have witnessed the legal and personal consequences of a hardline approach to the people and their families caught in it.

“As members of the legal profession, particularly for our members who work in criminal law, we see the human face of persons who are caught in Malaysia’s criminal justice system and subsequently incarcerated by Malaysia’s hardline and punitive policy of drug prohibition.

“We bear witness to the legal and personal consequences that they and their families face, especially so in the case of persons with addictions. The effectiveness of the hardline prohibitionist approach is questionable.

“The incarceration of persons with addiction to illicit drugs, often in detention centres that are overcrowded and in deplorable conditions, does little to help them ‘get clean’ but often exposes them and their families to additional risks of harm,” said Bar president Abdul Fareed Abdul Gafoor in a statement today.

He said the Bar believes that a drug law reform in the form of the decriminalisation of illicit drug use in favour of a more progressive harm reduction approach is a more prudent step for the government to take.

The decriminalisation of illicit drug use could potentially reduce the level of drug-related harm, increase the number of drug-dependent users seeking treatment and enable the implementation of effective demand reduction strategies, he said.

“Treatment of addiction can be made more accessible, less harmful patterns of use can be encouraged, the risk of mortality can be alleviated, incidents of drug-related crime can be reduced, stigma and discrimination can be eased, total social costs to society can be lowered and the activities of drug-related criminal networks can be disincentivised,” Abdul Fareed (photo) said.

As such, he said the Bar fully supports the government’s efforts to establish a public health-oriented approach to a drug policy that is evidence-based and guided by expert advice.

They also welcome Home Affairs Minister Muhyiddin Yassin’s proposal to get rid of Sections 6, 8 and 9 of the Drug Dependents (Treatment and Rehabilitation) Act 1983, so that those who are drug-dependent are no longer registered under the Registration of Criminals and Undesirable Persons Act 1969.

“The government’s decision to decriminalise illicit drug use is not a refutation of the harm caused by illicit drug use. It is a recognition that illicit drug use is not purely a law enforcement or security problem but more essentially a public health and social issue that must be addressed holistically in the best interest of our nation,” he said.

On June 27, Health Minister Dzulkefly Ahmad announced that the government has plans to work towards removing criminal penalties for the personal possession and use of drugs.

Calling the move a “significant game changer policy (sic)”, he emphasised that the decriminalisation of drug addicts and addiction was not to be mistaken for legalising drugs.

Muhyiddin had also previously said that the decriminalisation would include a treatment programme which would boost the roles of family members and the community.