People

The People’s Majlis has today passed the Bill on Narcotic Drugs by an almost unanimous vote. Out of the 72 members present in today’s session, 69 voted in favor of the Bill.

The Bill was passed with a number of changes during the debate.

According to the newly passed Bill, any legal entity that is convicted of an offence under the law would be fined an amount between 1 million and 100 million Rufiyaa. A member of the Board of Directors of a legal entity, who authorizes, or orders an offence under the law, or has knowledge of an offence under the law and does not disclose the information, would be subject to a similar fine.

Trafficking narcotic drugs in and out of the Maldives and producing any such substances within the borders of the Maldives would be punished with life imprisonment and a fine of 100,000-10,000,000 Rufiyaa.

Anybody who encourages abuse of narcotics, or trafficking of narcotics, and anyone who sells or buys narcotics would be imprisonment for 3 years and fined with an amount between 10,000 and 1,000,000 Rufiyaa.

Under the new Bill, which shall become law when it is published in the Government Gazette by the President’s Office, a special court for drug offences and the National Drug Control Council has been instituted as well. The Bill also obliges the government to set up at least 6 centres in the country to treating drug addicts. Such centres would include a detoxification centre, a drug treatment and rehabilitation centre, a juvenile drug treatment centre, a women’s drug treatment centre, a half-way house, and a drug offender remand centre.