Karachi: The Sindh Assembly has adopted a bill to envisage proper punishment against people involved in trafficking, possessing, and using synthetic and other new forms of narcotics including recreational drugs in the province.
The Control of Narcotics Substance (Sindh Amendment) Bill-2021 passed by the Sindh Assembly amended the Control of Narcotics Substance Act-1997 to insert in it the categories of new narcotic drugs.
The Sindh Assembly’s Standing Committee on Law and Parliamentary Affairs properly scrutinised the bill before its passage by the assembly.
The draft of newly passed bill states: “In the existing Control of Narcotics Substances Act-1997, the drugs are defined in detail with complete explanation of their usage, cardrurying, making, selling, purchasing, and consumption, which makes it applicable to the defined catalog only. Neurotoxic synthetic drugs like Ice (Methamphetamine), Ecstasy are not defined in the law, hence no punishment is awarded in trial courts in such cases.”
The bill defines two categories of the new form of narcotic drugs as in the first category coca leaf, cannabis, and poppy straw are included while in the second category cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, midomafetamine, and all manufactured drugs are included.
The bill defines the psychoactive drug as a chemical substance that changes brain function and results in hallucination and alterations in perception, mood, consciousness, or behaviour.
Intoxicating effect
The bill defines a recreational drug as a drug used to induce an intoxicating effect, which creates hallucination for pleasure by modifying the perception, feelings, and emotions of the user.
The bill envisages a punishment regime including imprisonment and fine for using, trafficking, and doing import or export of the narcotics drugs. The punishment regime starts with six months’ imprisonment and goes up to imprisonment for life and death sentence depending upon the quantity of the drugs involved in any criminal case. The minimum fine along with imprisonment is Rs 50,0000 and goes up to Rs one million.
Sindh Law and Environment Adviser Barrister Murtaza Wahab said that the preparation and consumption of the synthetic drugs in the province had been declared a criminal act by the new law.
He said that whosoever found involved in these drugs had to face the law regardless of his or her influence or status.
He appealed to the general public to support the government and identify the criminal elements involved in the unlawful practices so to safeguard the coming generations against the menace of narcotics.
