JUNE 21 — Malaysia’s drug laws are often defended as necessary to protect society and deter repeat offending. But when examined closely, Section 39C of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 reveals a troubling truth: it does not curb drug use. Instead, it entrenches poverty, criminalises drug dependence, and traps vulnerable individuals in a revolving door of incarceration. A recent research report published in collaboration with the International Drug Policy Consortium (IDPC) highlights how punitive drug policies can exacerbate social and economic vulnerabilities while failing to address the underlying drivers of drug use.
Section 39C allows courts to impose mandatory prison sentences of five to seven years on individuals repeatedly charged for drug use. The provision was designed to target those perceived as unwilling to reform. In practice, however, it disproportionately affects people from low-income and marginalised backgrounds, many of whom struggle with untreated problems relating to drug dependence, unstable employment, and social exclusion long before they ever enter a courtroom.
What the numbers reveal
Recent court data obtained from the Malaysian Judiciary shows that thousands of individuals across Sabah, Sarawak, and Peninsular Malaysia were charged under Section 39C between January 2024 and November 2025. These figures confirm that Section 39C is not an exceptional measure, it is routinely applied.
The sentencing outcomes are severe and predictable: lengthy imprisonment, corporal punishment, and post-release supervision. What is notably absent from this process is any meaningful inquiry into why individuals continue to use drugs, or whether incarceration improves their chances of recovery. The law focuses on repeat arrests and convictions, with little regard for the circumstances that shape them or the positive health, social, and economic outcomes an individual may have achieved.
Drug dependence on trial, not crime
Interviews conducted with former prisoners, criminal defence lawyers, and NGOs working directly with people who use drugs paint a far more complex picture than the law allows.
One former drug user, convicted under Section 39C in 2018, described how convictions dating back more than a decade — offences for which she had already served time and paid fines — were resurrected to justify a harsher charge. Unaware of the legal implications, and unwilling to prolong her remand, she pleaded guilty and received a five-year sentence. She received no treatment during her incarceration.
When she was released, she was given a small sum of money and sent back into society with no job, no housing, and a criminal record that barred employment. Within weeks, she returned to drug distribution — not out of defiance, but survival. “If I used the money to eat,” she said, “I wouldn’t last long.”
Her experience reflects a broader reality: Section 39C punishes relapse, not criminal intent. Drug dependence, recognised globally as a chronic and relapsing condition, is treated under Malaysian law as stubborn criminality deserving escalating punishment.
A system of contradictions
Lawyers interviewed for this research highlighted a fundamental inconsistency in Malaysia’s drug enforcement framework. Individuals arrested by the police are more likely to face prosecution and imprisonment, while those apprehended by the National Anti-Drug Agency (AADK) may be diverted to rehabilitation. Outcomes often depend less on need than on the arresting authority.
Furthermore, senior criminal lawyers like Mr. Charan Singh, argue that Section 39C imposes disproportionately harsh penalties on repeat offenders, many of whom come from low-income and marginalised backgrounds. Drawing on his experience representing individuals charged under the provision, he notes that poverty, unemployment, and limited educational opportunities, albeit not being the only factors, often contribute to repeated contact with the criminal justice system. He further highlights that imprisonment alone does little to address these underlying challenges, frequently leaving individuals and their families in vulnerable situations and increasing the likelihood of reoffending.
NGOs working in harm reduction stress that imprisonment does not address drug dependence. On the contrary, incarceration often worsens it — exposing individuals to unsafe drug use practices, health risks, and deeper stigma. Several interviewees noted that drugs remain accessible even within prisons and rehabilitation centres, undermining the notion that confinement leads to recovery.
Reform, but not enough
Malaysia has begun to acknowledge the limits of punitive drug policy. Amendments to the Drug Dependants (Treatment and Rehabilitation) Act and public statements by policymakers suggest a shift toward treatment over punishment. Discussions on expunging criminal records for minor and non-violent offences are also underway.
Yet Section 39C remains untouched.
As long as repeat drug use is criminalised, individuals will continue to be funnelled into prison based on past records — sometimes decades old — regardless of their efforts to recover. Reform that leaves Section 39C intact risks being cosmetic rather than transformative.
A question of justice — and cost
Beyond human suffering, there is a broader cost to society. Long prison sentences drain public resources while doing little to reduce drug use. Families are fractured, children are affected, and communities lose individuals who could otherwise recover and contribute meaningfully.
The evidence is clear: harsher punishment has not deterred drug use. It has merely ensured that the poorest and most marginalised pay the highest price.
A way forward
If Malaysia is serious about addressing drug use as a public health issue, it must confront the failure of Section 39C. This requires more than minor procedural tweaks. It calls for a moratorium on criminalising drug use and possession, stronger diversion to treatment, the expungement of past convictions that block reintegration, and the removal of drug users from criminal registries that brand them as “undesirable.”
In the long term, it requires the courage to abolish Section 39C altogether.
Punishing people harder has not made them better. It has only deepened their economic hardship, increased marginalisation, and made them more likely to return to the very behaviours the law claims to prevent. If Malaysia truly believes in rehabilitation, dignity, and justice, then its drug policies must stop punishing poverty — and start treating drug dependence for what it is: a health issue that demands care, not cages.
* Simraatraj Kaur Dhillon is an Advocate & Solicitor, and former fellow of the 2025 Drug Laws and Access to Justice in Malaysia Fellowship Programme, implemented by International Drug Policy Consortium (IDPC).
** This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of NewsPulse.
