LAMENTING the sizeable proportion of the prison population incarcerated for drug abuse, the deputy prime minister describes the problem as the country’s “biggest enemy”. Despite the many drug control measures, anti-drug campaigns and rehabilitation programmes, drugs remain a menace. Last year, just over half of all prisoners in Malaysia were in prison for a drug-related offence, rising from a 2014 figure of 44 per cent. While it is not clear what the division is between drug traffickers and addicts, or trafficker and user, the numbers are definitely alarming. In 2014, Malaysia’s total prison population numbered nearly 48,000. So, at least 24,000 are behind bars because of drugs. Why is this scenario scary? After all, it is a small percentage of the country’s total population. And, when the foreigners are subtracted, then the number is even smaller.
The answer: because most addicts are not in prison. In fact, today, detaining addicts for purposes of rehabilitation has become unfashionable because it has proven to be an expensive exercise in futility. This amounts to having a large number of addicts on the loose in the community, many times more than in prison. Some undergo rehabilitation but plenty more do not. What it all adds up to is the phenomenal cost — economic, social, security — of the whole problem.
First, it ties up a considerable part of law enforcement involving both the police and customs. Second, addicts are not abandoned. Rehabilitation is a costly exercise, which is made more so because intravenous use is popular. Needle-sharing is a major cause of the spread of HIV-AIDS. Third, distributing free needles to curb the spread of the deadly disease is another cost factor. Fourth, the economic cost to the country. A large number of addicts translates into the same number lost to the labour force. And fifth, when jobless, addicts turn to crime to support their habit. Crime in the community increases as a result. Finally, addiction to illegal substances feeds the underworld of crime, which leads to more crime and, as the Afghanistan experience shows, the vast sums made from this illicit trade is used to fund terrorism. How much worse can it get?
As the Oliver North scandal of the Reagan era shows, some governments are to blame for subverting the law by, at the very least, turning a blind eye to the drug trade for geopolitical expedience. Allegedly, a similar subterfuge explains why Afghanistan’s opium trade is booming. That is how bad it gets.
And now, after years of criminalising marijuana, its recent legalisation in some countries is producing an exponentially growing, very lucrative economy through commercial farming of the plant. Nevertheless, the fight against drug addiction in Malaysia must go on. Western hedonism has no place in a small country where every individual lost to the labour force matters. Overcoming the problem must include sealing off the borders absolutely to smugglers. Addicts must be persuaded to kick the habit through voluntary, effective rehabilitation programmes. Aggressive campaigns need to be carried out in schools. In this respect, teacher and family support is essential. Of course, a major crackdown on pushers is absolutely necessary, especially when capital punishment does not deter.