SERDANG: A new law on drug and substance abuse is currently in the works, says Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail.
The Home Minister said that under the new law, a focus would be placed towards consumption, with the option of referring offenders to rehabilitation institutes.
“Offenders will tentatively be referred to rehabilitation institutes under the National Anti-Drug Agency (AADK) and not straight to jail as per the current practice.
“We have also been briefed on this by the AADK with everything going according to plan,” he said at a press conference after attending the ministry’s Hari Raya open house celebration at the Malaysian Agro Exposition Park (MAEPS) on Monday (May 15).
He added that the ministry targeted to present the bill to the Cabinet in July.
“Once approval is given, we will work with the Attorney General's Chambers to prepare a draft to be tabled in Parliament this year,” he said.
Separately, he said decisions on more than 8,000 citizenship applications were made as of the first week of May this year.
“A main focus was placed on citizenship applications for adopted children. Them being stateless presents a continuous problem where they cannot attend schools, for example.
“There are also cases where some of these stateless children are about to enter university or college,” he said.
