PUTRAJAYA: The legisation of cannabis use in Thailand has posed a new challenge for Malaysia to deter its smuggling.
Home Minister Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainuddin said Malaysians traveling to Thailand would be easily exposed to cannabis-based products in the form of food, drinks and supplements sold there.
"Furthermore, cannabis-based products in the form of food, drinks and supplements may be smuggled into our country.
"We are concerned that some of us may become addicted to cannabis because they had unwittingly consumed such products," Hamzah said in a speech read by Home Ministry deputy secretary-general Datuk Abdul Halim Abdul Rahman at the National Drug Addiction Science Symposium here today.
Also present was National Anti-Drug Agency (Nada) director-general Sutekno Ahmad Belon.
Since June 9, Thailand removed certain parts and extracts of the cannabis plant, except flowers and inflorescences, from the list of Category 5 controlled narcotics under the Narcotics Act 1979 for medical purposes.
The country also legalised the growing of marijuana and its consumption in food and drinks to boost its agriculture and tourism sectors.
However the recreational use of marijuana, also known as ganja, is still banned.
In Malaysia, the control of the ketum plant has been implemented since 2003 with the listing of mitragynine alkaloid found in the ketum plant as a psychotropic substance that has an imaginary effect (kesan khayalan) on its users under the Third Schedule, Poisons Act 1952.
Although there are parties who suggest that ketum's export to be allowed to neighbouring countries, Hamzah said only commodity crops were allowed for export.
"The sustainability of commodity crops is highly dependent on market prices.
"Hence, I suggest that the party examining the proposal for the industrialisation of cannbis and ketum, to first establish a form of regular control mechanism to protect the people in this country from harm due to the abuse and addiction of the psychotropic substances found in both plants."
According to report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in 2020, more than four per cent of the global population or 209 million people aged 15 to 64 are cannabis users.
The amount reported in 2020 shows an increase of 23 percent compared to 2010.
Meanwhile, of the 123,139 drug and substance addicts detected in Malaysia, 66 percent or 81,112 were aged between 19 and 39 in 2021.
Hamzah said the figure showed a worrying trend in the abuse of drugs.
The Prevalence of Drug and Substance Abuse Among Youth study by Home Ministry and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia between 2020 and 2021 also shows that 5.5 per cent or 616,874 people aged 15 to 40 had used drugs and abused substances at least once in their lifetime, while 3.5 per cent or 394,133 have used drugs and substances in the last 30 days.
The Alcohol, Smoking and Substance Involvement Screening Test (ASSIST) also showed that one per cent required treatment and rehabilitation.