Bar Council welcomes Govt move to decriminalise drugs
The government in June had pledged to decriminalise drug addiction and drug possession for personal use
Monday, July 8, 2019
The Malaysian Bar has welcomed the government's decision to decriminalise drugs, saying that these reforms are essential to a holistic drug policy. Malaysian Bar president Abdul Fareed Abdul Gafoor said the effectiveness of the hardline prohibitionist approach was 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," he said in a statement. Based on research findings in other jurisdictions, drug law reform in the form of the decriminalisation of illicit drug use — in favour of a more progressive harm reduction approach — is a prudent and progressive step for the Government to take in its drug policy.
