Articles & News

June 26, 2008

Macau government seeks approval for tougher drug crimes

Sara Farr, Macau Daily Times

The government is looking at toughening sentences for drug related crimes with a proposed new law that will an increase in the sentences handed down to drug traffickers and narcotics growers.
Lawmakers at the Legislative Assembly got a taste of the proposed law, when secretary for administration and justice, Florinda da Rosa Silva Chan spent five hours presenting the bill along with another two bills on public service regimes and office chief statuses.

Last week the government set up a new committee aimed at fighting drug related crimes in Macau, following in the footsteps of Hong Kong and the mainland.

Vong Im Mui, from the department of prevention and treatment of drug addition of the Social Welfare Bureau (IAS), said at the time, the committee was also responsible for overseeing the proposed amendment on the drugs crime legislation, which some believe is “too strict” and “harsh” by sentencing a person to some 10 years in jail for the possession of 20 grams of substance.

But to Vong, the legislation still needs to be tougher, since in Hong Kong a person caught trafficking drugs is sentenced to life, while in the mainland a person is executed for such crimes, similarly to drug traffickers caught in Indonesia and Singapore.

“Macau's drug law is too soft and as such people aren't afraid to take drugs,” Vong said at the time.
“The government needs to amend the law, because the current one is 17 years old and as such too outdated and far behind,” she added.

The government seems to agree that the current law is outdated and not tough enough, and has increased sentences from 1 year to 5 years in jail as the minimum for producing heroine, methadone, opium, cocaine and amphetamines. The maximum sentence for such crimes has also been increased from 12 to 15 years, in the proposed bill.

For traffickers, the minimum jail sentence will be increased from 3 to 5 years, while the maximum will increase from 12 to 15 years.

“We think it's important to toughen such criminal activities, but on the other hand, we are also aware of how much an addict needs help to get cleaned and reintegrate himself back in society,” Chan said, adding that in the proposed bill, addicts will have the possibility and the chance to avoid jail by serving time doing community work, and helping drug users reintegrate back into society.

“The [proposed] bill aims to lower the number of drug related crimes,” Chan said.
Due to the lack of time, lawmakers will meet again on July 8 to further discuss the bill and vote on its overall draft.