ONCB devising new anti-narcotics special law
THE new secretary-general of the Office of the Narcotics Control Board will propose to Justice Minister General Paiboon Koomchaya implementing a special law aimed at reducing the use of precursors and other chemicals in the manufacturing of illicit drugs.
Announcing the ONCB’s policies for 2016 yesterday, Narong Rattananukul said regional cooperation by law enforcement agencies would be stressed, especially the Safe Mekong Coordination Centre. The centre will host a meeting this month for Thailand, China, Laos, Myanmar, Cambodia and Vietnam to establish anti-drug policies with a particular focus on preventing the smuggling of precursors.
Narong said Thailand was looking at a regulation aimed at controlling the chemicals used in the making of illicit drugs. It was likely to be passed as a special law rather than a regular act, as that would take too long to implement.
The Justice Ministry is working on a drug-law code in an effort to ensure unity and law-enforcement effectiveness against various groups such as drug bosses, dealers and users, he said.
The code – to be submitted to Cabinet for approval this month – will include basing sentence deliberation on case circumstances rather than the current practice of drug quantity, he added.
