Malaysian police can no longer handle the problem of the nation's estimated 300,000 drug users and want other agencies to take over and rehabilitate them, a report said today.

The number of addicts in state-run drug rehabilitation programs has fallen to 5,000 compared to 10,000 three years ago, as more offenders are merely fined and return to the streets under police supervision, the New Straits Times said.

"We want the relevant agencies to take charge of rehabilitating addicts so that we can focus on going after the traffickers and pushers," it quoted Deputy Inspector-General Musa Hassan as saying.

"Rehabilitating addicts will serve the addicts and society better, rather than putting them in prison," he said.

"They need time in rehabilitation centres where they will be better treated and supervised," Musa added.

Return to habit

The report said more than half the drug users in Malaysia return to their habit after treatment, resulting in an estimated 40,000 convicted drug users on the streets among a population of 26.7 million population.

Musa said the main drug problems facing Malaysia were "designer drugs" such as amphetamine-type stimulants and psychotropic pills, which were to blame for a large number of violent crimes.

"These users tend to be aggressive and fail to understand the consequence of their actions," he said.

The most recent drug-related crime to hit the headlines was last month when a Malaysian princess, Tengku Puteri Kamariah from the eastern state of Pahang, was stabbed to death by her own son.

Tunku Rizal Shahzan, 21, also violently stabbed his father while under the heavy influence of drugs which resulted in his death shortly after the attack.