PUTRAJAYA: Soon, it will be an offence to plant ketum without permission. Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail said today that growers would be required to get the approval of the local authorities and Health Ministry.
She said the Cabinet Committee on the Eradication of Drugs had agreed to amend the law to make it an offence to plant ketum without permission.
Currently, she said, it is an offence to harvest and sell the plant.
Ketum is regulated under Section 30(3) of the Poisons Act 1952, due to the presence of a substance called mitragynine in the plant.
Dr Wan Azizah said the committee had also agreed to take out Sections 8 and 9 of the Drug Dependants (Treatment and Rehabilitation) Act and Rules from the Registration of Criminals and Undesirable Persons Act 1969.
“This is done to ensure that drug addicts who have undergone rehabilitation voluntarily will have no criminal record.” She said this would erase the stigma plaguing rehabilitated drug addicts and give them the chance to find work and start new lives.
The committee, she added, also proposed to offer incentives, that were given to employers who hired former convicts, to those who employed former drug addicts.
“Studies have shown that the recovery rate of respondents (former drug addicts) is better when they have jobs to support themselves and their families.”