Top court imposes harsher penalties for drug offenses
Print Edition
CHINA’S top court yesterday released a new judicial interpretation of rules relating to drug-related convictions and sentencing, imposing stiffer penalties.
The document, issued by the Supreme People’s Court, outlines stricter rules for ketamine, lowering the threshold for criminalization of the drug by half.
Ketamine abuse in China is quite serious, said Fang Wenjun, a senior SPC judge.
The number of ketamine users continues to grow, and it ranks third among substances, after methamphetamine and heroin, in terms of involvement in drug-related violations.
Production and sale of the drug has also been on the rise in recent years, and harsher rules are needed to deal with it, Fang said.
An increase in users and violations has resulted in a number of cases of self-mutilation, violence and driving under the influence, according to the SPC judge.
The new document also added 12 new types of illegal drugs to be subject to criminal penalties and lowered the threshold for conviction of illegal use for 33 precursor chemicals.
Drug crimes committed by state officials and illegally providing narcotics to juveniles will be subject to harsher punishments.
The interpretation also covers online offenses. The new rules come into effect on April 11.
Also yesterday, the SPC announced that courts at all levels have concluded the trials of 139,024 cases of drug cases in 2015, an increase of over 30 percent.
A total of 137,198 drug offenders have been sentenced and almost 20 percent of them received serious penalties — five years’ imprisonment or more and capital punishment.
Drug lords, professional drug dealers and re-offenders will also receive severe punishments.
Ma Yan, another SPC judge, called on members of the public to participate in the anti-drug campaign.
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