INTERACTIVE: Drug addiction in Malaysia and the govt's aim to decriminalise it

A new law is expected to be tabled in Parliament to decriminalise substance abuse in small doses. — AZHAR MAHFOF/The Star.

PETALING JAYA: Every year, an average of about 25,000 drug addicts are arrested nationwide, as it is a crime to use or possess drugs under Malaysian law.

Between 2015 and 2022, most or 95.8% of the drug addicts detained were men, while the remaining 4.2% were women, according to data from the Crime Statistics series released by the Statistics Department.