FOR every 10 inmates in prison, seven of them are there for drug-related reasons, says Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail.
He said the country’s 41 prisons held about 87,000 inmates and that 70 out of every 100 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.
He added that 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 during Question Time yesterday.
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.
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 and public and private rehabilitation centres, he said the problem was most severe along the east coast, where ganja, heroin, ketum and morphine had given way to amphetamine, syabu and methamphetamine.
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, however, said 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.
“In my view, the laws still need to be updated.”
The ongoing Parliament meeting will sit for 16 days from June 22 to July 16.
