Secretary for Administration and Justice André Cheong Weng Chon, who is also the spokesman for the Executive Council (ExCo), announced on Friday that the government’s top advisory body, has completed its discussion of a government-drafted regulation which adds five more substances to Macau’s anti-drug law, which are also subject to international control.
Cheong made the remarks during Friday’s Executive Council press conference at Government Headquarters.
The current anti-drug law was enacted in 2009. The law is officially known as the Law on the Prohibition of the Illicit Production, Trafficking and Consumption of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances.
Last year, the Legislative Assembly (AL) passed the anti-drug amendment law which added 15 substances to Macau’s anti-drug law, which are also subject to international control.
The 15 substances added last year included 12 types of narcotics and psychotropic substances, 3 types of substances used as “precursors” to manufacture drugs, and a non-internationally listed substance, ketamine, is included in the regulation as well.
Cheong noted that the new bill lists an additional five substances, four of which are opiate analgesics such as 2-methyl-AP-237 (hydrochloride) and one is a synthetic cannabinoid.
Cheong said that the government has requested the Legislative Assembly (AL) to carry out an urgent procedure for the debate and vote of the latest version of the amendment bill, which means that it has not been arranged for review by any of the legislature’s standing committees before its final article-by-article debate and vote.
Judiciary Police (PJ) Director Sit Chong Meng pointed out during Friday’s Executive Council press conference that the four opioid analgesics proposed for listing have, as yet, not been found in Macau and neighbouring regions, but synthetic cannabinoids have been found in Macau in the past few years, and most of the cases have already been brought to justice because the suspects were in possession of other controlled drugs at the same time.
Cheong added that it is important to bring under control the internationally scheduled substances endorsed by the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs, so as to prevent emerging drugs from posing a threat to public health and safety, and to better synchronise Macau’s legal system with the neighbouring regions and the international community in preventing and combating drug offences.
Image courtesy of Solution Pharmacy
