Punishments for drug offences to be reviewed
An anti-drug government agency will meet this week to consider options for reviewing punishments in drug-related cases to make them more realistic.
The Narcotics Control Board’s secretary general Permpong Koomchaya said that it is believed that there are too many laws related to narcotics punishment and they are not practical.
“The imprisonment term for drug smugglers across the board is between 1020 years although many smugglers are found with only 12 pills in their possession. About 6070 per cent of the arrested drug offenders have in possession less than 50 pills. Jailing them causes overcrowding at prisons also,” he said.
Permpong said imprisonment terms must be revised and made more lenient. He expects a revised law to be ready before the end of January, as several local and foreign organisations including the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime are closely monitoring Thailand’s laws related to narcotics.
