HÀ NỘI — The National Assembly Standing Committee yesterday discussed the draft amended Law on Drug Prevention and Control.

According to Senior Lieutenant General Lê Quý Vương, the draft Law included the "Management of illicit drug users", which is a new chapter that stemmed from the complicated developments of drug addiction.

This chapter will used the first time people use drugs illegally to deter them from using more and reduce the number of addicts more effectively.

Presenting a preliminary report on the Law on Drug Prevention and Control, Chairman of the Committee on Social Affairs under the National Assembly Nguyễn Thuý Anh said the Standing Committee had agreed on the need to revise the draft. The shift in perceiving drug addiction as disease had resulted in the Government changing its approach: instead of focusing on measures to isolate drug addicts as before, it has gradually shifted focus to effective prevention, treatment and harm reduction.

Basically, the draft Law ensures compliance with the Party's guidelines and with the Constitution, and relevant international treaties to which Việt Nam iss a member. However, Thuý Anh said the drafting body should continue to review the Law to ensure consistency with relevant legal provisions in a number of legal projects that are being amended and supplemented such as the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations, Law HIV / AIDS Prevention and Control, Residence Law, and some current laws such as the Criminal Code and Pharmacy Law, to ensure consistency in the legal system.

Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Uông Chu Lưu said that drugs affected all aspects of life, and although there were many solutions, prevention had not met the requirements for controlling and fighting drugs.

Many people were buying, selling and transporting drugs in large quantities, so Lưu said the handling of these violations needed to be revised to suit the situation.

National Assembly Vice Chairman Phùng Quốc Hiển said that regulations on handling new addicts should be supportive and encouraging, while for those who relapsed stricter measures should be put in place.

"We can’t wait until drug addicts commit crimes to be considered criminals,” Hiển said. VNS