KUALA LUMPUR – The Home Ministry will propose a law amendment to offer treatment for drug addicts rather than punishment, said Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail.
The home minister said the law, if proposed and passed in Parliament, would give priority to rehabilitation and treatment of drug addicts within a legal framework and would uphold efforts for a transformation of the prisons and detention centres.
“We are proposing amendments to the drug law or act, especially Section 15 (1) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952.
“If the amendment gets the support and approval of the MPs, drug offenders will receive treatment instead of punishment after being certified by medical officers. Once certified we will take them straight to the rehab centres,” he said when winding up his ministry’s reply in Dewan Rakyat yesterday.
Saifuddin added that the government was also studying the prospect of carrying out home detention and suspended sentences with intervention by prison officers.
He added that both the newly minted initiatives would serve as a transformation for prisons and detention centres as well as prioritise the humanitarian elements, especially offenders who have health predicaments as well as to reduce congestion in prisons.
“(On) why home detention is important, let’s study this scenario. A woman, when detained and sentenced for whatever offence, is pregnant and has to serve the punishment. Under normal circumstances she would have to undergo such pregnancy in prison.
“…if we can detain such offenders at home physically, the pregnant mother will be outside the prison but we will provide an electronic gadget to monitor her movements. If we don’t explore the possibility, the pregnant offender will become an inmate in the Sg Buloh, Kajang, Seremban, Penang prisons or others,” he said.
The Parliament session continues later today. – October 10, 2023