Male’, Maldives – Members of the Petition Committee alleged that the entire system has failed to treat the drug users in Maldives and bring them back to the society.
MP for Ihavandhoo Constituency, Mohamed Shifau stated that the failure of the system to treat the drug users of Maldives should be announced as the biggest emergency currently in the Maldives. MP Shifau gave assurance that he would not delay in presenting an amendment to the parliament, if the aforementioned issues are not being solved as they are not in the law.
MP Shifau highlighted that the drug issues of Maldives need to be solved even though means of declaring a Medical Emergency situation in the country.
Meanwhile, MP for Hoarafushi Constituency, Ahmed Saleem noted that despite the country having drug courts and drug associations, no issue related to drugs are being solved. He stated that integrity is missing in the work.
Head of the Drug Enforcement Department, Ahmed Shakir detailed that according to Section 103 of the Laws related to Drugs state that if a Police identifies a drug user from street and believes that they need to be treated, then they can be remanded under a court order.
Under this, Shakir informed that till August 12, 2021, the Criminal Court remanded upto 238 individuals, however, it was halted on August 12 after the system decided that it was not in the grounds of the court to remand such individuals. This is why, Shakir stated that to date, the Police are still unaware of where to go to remand the drug users who are in need of treatment.
Although there are certain obstacles, Shakir stated that there is no issue in the law but noted that the work of the remand centers are not being done properly due to problems in the entire system of Maldives.
