Property and wealth of drug dealers will be confiscated as per draft of a revised narcotics control law.
The government recently revised the Narcotics Control Act, 1990 that also said the drug dealing is a non-bailable offence.
The revised law also said when a trial against any drug peddler is underway, the bank account of the accused can be frozen.
Persons listed as drug addicts and those convicted for drug trafficking, will not be issue driving or firearms licenses, the draft law added.
The use of narcotic substances in various industries and pharmaceutical production will require permission from the authorities. Physicians will be able to prescribe addictive drugs without written permission from the Narcotics Control Department’s director general.
Officials at the home ministry said 75 per cent of the Narcotics Control Act, 1990 has been changed in the newly drafted Narcotics Control Act, 2017.
A total of 7 sections and 28 definitions have been added to the new draft.
Home minister Asaduzzaman Khan told Prothom Alo that the old law did not include punishment for the use of various drugs such as yaba and shisha.
Also, nothing had been mentioned in the old law about misuse of drugs in pharmaceutical and others industries. This new law has included death penalty and Tk 10 million as fine for financers, suppliers, addicts, carriers, and sponsors of such contraband drugs, he added.
Punishment for others
If any offenders under this law repeats the offence, they will be jailed for minimum 20 years and fined Tk 1 million.
If anyone under the influence of alcohol creates disturbance for anyone, he or she will receive a minimum one-year prison sentence and and fined Tk 10,000.
Anyone is possession of drug manufacturing equipment will be jailed for 2 years. Anyone proven in court to be addicted to drugs will be sentenced to jail for five years.
The financier of the drug trafficking will be punished as per law and fined Tk 10 million.
Those refusing to cooperate with narcotics control agencies will also be punished.
Treatment for addicts
Criticising parts of the draft law, psychologists said the law has skipped medical treatment for drug addicts and put non-physicians in charge of the addicts.
This will hamper proper treatment of the addicted persons.
*This piece, originally published in Prothom Alo Bangla print edition, has been rewritten in English by Toriqul Islam.