Report of IDPC/MAC Seminar - Managing drug using offenders in Malaysia

On Thursday, 9 December 2010, a joint seminar between the Malaysian AIDS Council (MAC) and the International Drugs Policy Consortium (IDPC) was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The aim of the seminar was to engage high level officials in considering alternative options to the current mandatory treatment and rehabilitation system for managing drug using offenders in Malaysia.

The event was attended by representatives from the Malaysian Parliament, the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Ministry of Health (MOH), the National Anti-Drugs Agency (AADK), the Prisons Department and the Social Welfare Department, the Royal Malaysian Police, the Malaysian Judiciary, the Federal Government Administrative Centre and the Islamic Religious Council.

This seminar provided the opportunity to share experiences from different countries and encourage new thinking at a time where the Malaysian government has already successfully implemented harm reduction measures and is in the process of scaling these up.