Enforcement status of the poison act 1952 against offences related to kratom (Mitragyna speciosa Korth) misuse in Malaysia
Samihah Khalil @ Halim1, Rusniah Ahmad2, Siti Alida John Abdullah3.
The kratom story in Malaysia is a bit intricate. Kratom (Mitragyna
speciosa Korth) or by the local name ketum is a local plant where
‘mitragynine’ (alkaloid in kratom leaves) is listed as a psychotropic
substance under the Malaysian Poison Act 1952. The law states
that any activity related to possessing, selling, using, transporting,
processing, importing, or exporting kratom is considered illegal and
can be prosecuted. Interestingly, kratom trees are not illegal plants
and no laws in Malaysia forbid the cultivation or the presence of
naturally growing kratom. On the prosecution side, the current laws
do little to prosecute kratom addicts for rehabilitation due to no
available kratom test kits which can assist the enforcement agency to
arrest and prosecute kratom addicts. Therefore, the enforcement of
law on kratom has been largely applied for transporting, processing
and selling. Though the Poison Act cannot stop anyone who wants to
plant or grow kratom, there are land laws that prohibit the plantation
of kratom on land specified for agricultural purpose, adding a
tricky situation to the present circumstances related to kratom. In
pharmacology, there is research and demand for the development of kratom, and demands from international pharmaceutical companies
for kratom had created an illegal rational economic exploitation of
Malaysia’s kratom by individuals, resulting in more intricacies to
the existing complication. This paper intended to discuss the legal
status of kratom in Malaysia which we believe is facing its crossroad.
The paper used the rational approach of economic and criminology
arguments to establish kratom offences in the northern states of
Malaysia, thus offering a review of the current state-of-affair. Police
statistics and data on kratom offences were then presented to discuss
the current status and its implication.
Affiliation:
- Universiti Utara Malaysia, Malaysia
- Universiti Utara Malaysia, Malaysia
- Universiti Utara Malaysia, Malaysia
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