KAJANG – A new soon-to-be-drafted act related to drug and substance abuse will enable users addicted to non-drug substances to undergo treatment and rehabilitation under the National Anti-Drug Agency (Nada), its director-general Sutekno Ahmad Belon said.
He said current treatment and rehabilitation for non-drug addiction, including those addicted to ketum (kratom) leaves, were not under the agency’s jurisdiction.
“What we are concerned about now is improving access to help individuals recover, for instance, from ketum addiction,” he told reporters at the agency’s Aidilfitri event at its headquarters here yesterday.
According to Sutekno, with the new act, users addicted to substances like ketum can be listed under Nada for treatment.
Bernama reported on Monday that Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail announced a draft bill to create a new act related to drug and substance abuse that will be brought to the cabinet in July.
Meanwhile, on Malaysian Substance Abuse Council push to immediately gazette ketum as a drug under the Dangerous Drug Act 1952, Suketno said the Poisons Act 1952 was adequate to supervise the ownership and abuse of the substance. – Bernama, May 20, 2023
