A special task force headed by the Home Affairs Ministry and involving the Youth and Sports Ministry and the chief secretary to the government has been formed to facilitate the process of drug decriminalisation.

This is according to Youth and Sports Ministry Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman who said this was decided in a cabinet meeting last week.

A 2018 statistic showed that 18,967 youths were drug addicts, compared to 6,300 adults, he said, which is why the Youth Ministry was roped into the task force.

"This means that the number of youths who are addicted to drugs are three times that of adults.

"The ministry's and my stand during the cabinet and the special task force meeting is for us to separate the treatment of drug addicts and distributors, where addiction is not a crime and they should not be jailed...