KUALA LUMPUR: Seven in every 10 inmates in Malaysian prisons are there for drug-related reasons, Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail told the Dewan Rakyat on Tuesday (June 23).
He said the country's 41 prisons held about 87,000 inmates, and that 70% had either been convicted of drug offences or were remanded on drug-related charges.
“At the Machang prison in Kelantan, almost the entire population was tied to drug cases,” said Saifuddin.
Saifuddin said a person caught under Section 15(1) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952, which deals with drug use, had the potential to be drawn into 29 other types of crime, while someone held under Section 12(2) for possessing small quantities could be linked to 11 others.
He described both provisions as "crime highways".
"If we can solve the drug problem, we will actually bring down many other crimes, including theft, robbery, snatch theft and extortion," he said.
Replying to Khoo Poay Tiong (DAP-Kota Melaka), Saifuddin said drug abuse cases had risen to 192,857 in 2024 from 145,526 in 2023, before easing to 141,817 last year.
Based on the 2024 figure, Saifuddin said about 560 in every 100,000 Malaysians were involved with drugs.
Those aged between 15 and 39 made up close to 75 per cent of the cases, a bracket he called the country's most productive age group.
Synthetic drugs now dominate, with amphetamine-type stimulants making up roughly 70% of all abuse cases, added Saifuddin.
Citing data from the Health Ministry, the National Anti-Drugs Agency (AADK) and public and private rehabilitation centres, he said it showed the problem was most severe along the east coast, where ganja, heroin, ketum and morphine had given way to amphetamines, syabu and methamphetamine.
By district, he said Pendang in Kedah recorded the most cases, followed by Kuala Krai, Bachok, Besut and Mersing.
On fentanyl, Saifuddin said the substance was many times more potent than morphine and could be fatal, which was why it had been placed under Schedule 1 of the Dangerous Drugs Act and the schedule under the Drug Dependants (Treatment and Rehabilitation) Act.
He cautioned that fentanyl had not yet reached worrying levels in Malaysia and was not as widespread as in the United States or Canada.
But listing a substance under the law was necessary before investigations could proceed, he said, as the authorities could only act once it was scheduled.
Pressed on online sales, the minister conceded that existing laws were not built for the problem.
He said e-commerce platforms, which fall under the Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Ministry, often argued that they only provided the marketplace and did not control what was sold, leaving them reluctant to act on enforcement requests.
”In my view, the laws still need to be updated," he said.
On the government's broader approach, Saifuddin said the focus had shifted towards treating drug users as patients rather than offenders.
Under the amended Drug Dependants Act, those who come forward voluntarily for treatment at a drug rehabilitation centre (Puspen) are no longer recorded as having a criminal record.
He said families no longer needed a hospital assessment first and could take a relative straight to a centre for a two-week evaluation.
The ongoing Parliament meeting will sit for 16 days from June 22 to July 16.
