Malaysia seeks to decriminalise possession, use of small amounts of illegal narcotics

In order to lessen prison overcrowding, Malaysia plans to decriminalise the use and possession of small amounts of illegal narcotics, its home affairs minister announced on Monday.

The move is the most recent in a line of criminal justice changes pursued by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim's administration, which also declared it will work to decriminalise suicide attempts and repealed the mandatory death penalty and natural-life prison terms this year.

Like many of its neighbours in Southeast Asia, Malaysia enforces severe punishments for drug offences. The death penalty for drug trafficking was kept under the reforms approved last month, but it was made clear that it would no longer be mandatory, leaving it up to judges to decide whether or not to sentence guilty offenders to death.

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Under the proposed law, those found with small quantities of illegal substances will not be prosecuted but instead sent to drug rehabilitation centres for treatment, Home Affairs Minister Saifuddin Nasution told reporters.

"For those found with small amounts of drugs, whether it was for possession or use, the idea is not to consider the act as a regular drug-related offence," he said.

A proposal on the new law is expected to be presented to the cabinet in July for approval, Saifuddin said. If approved, a draft bill will be tabled in parliament within the year, he added.

Malaysia is considered a key transit point for illegal narcotics. The police said nearly 29,000 people were arrested in 2022 for various drug offences, the bulk of whom were addicts.

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