The Legislative Yuan yesterday passed amendments to the Narcotics Hazard Prevention Act (毒品危害防制條例) allowing courts to seize illicit gains from the sale of narcotics.
People who sell or transfer narcotics of any class, or grow, sell or transfer opium poppy, cocaine or cannabis plants would have any belongings or property proved to be illicit gains from the infractions seized, one amendment says.
Authorities do not need to wait until a court ruling is passed before destroying seized narcotics that are difficult to produce or preserve, another amendment says.
Photo: CNA
The thresholds for punishments related to the possession of class C or D drugs were also lowered.
People found in possession of more than 5g of any class C drug would be subject to a jail term of up to two years or a maximum fine of NT$200,000, while those found with more than 5g of class D narcotics would face a prison term of up to one year or a fine of up to NT$100,000. Previously, people found in possession of more than 20g of class C drugs faced a prison term of up to three years, which could be commuted to a NT$300,000 fine, while those in possession of more than 20g of class D narcotics faced a jail term of up to one year or a fine of NT$100,000.
Due to the high costs often associated with making “standard samples,” either the synthesis of new drugs or importing samples from abroad, the amendments allow narcotics inspection agencies to take a small portion of new drugs seized to be used as samples.
People who force or coerce a minor or pregnant woman to use illicit drugs, or cause them to do so by any other means, could face a prison term 1.5 times longer, another amendment says.
People found to have manufactured, sold, transported or enticed others to take a mixture of narcotics of different classes would face charges governing the higher-ranked drugs, as well as a prison term 1.5 times longer than the penalty if their crime involved only one kind of drug, the amendments say.
To reduce the period in which no legal action may be taken for new narcotics, the amendments stipulate that drugs with similar chemical formulas may be reviewed immediately and classified at drug reviews held every three months by the Ministry of Justice, and the Ministry of Health and Welfare.
As not everyone who uses controlled substances develops an addiction, one amendment stipulates that such offenders may be ordered to perform community service, or undergo therapy or counseling as an alternative to rehabilitation.
An Emirates flight from Dubai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport yesterday afternoon, the first service of the airline since the US and Israel launched strikes against Iran on Saturday. Flight EK366 took off from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) at 3:51am yesterday and landed at 4:02pm before taxiing to the airport’s D6 gate at Terminal 2 at 4:08pm, data from the airport and FlightAware, a global flight tracking site, showed. Of the 501 passengers on the flight, 275 were Taiwanese, including 96 group tour travelers, the data showed. Tourism Administration Deputy Director-General Huang He-ting (黃荷婷) greeted Taiwanese passengers at the airport and
POSSIBILITIES EMERGE: With Taiwan’s victory and Japan’s narrow win over Australia, Taiwan now have a chance to advance if South Korea also beat the Aussies Taiwan has high hopes that the national baseball team would advance to the World Baseball Classic (WBC) quarter-finals after clinching a crucial 5-4 victory over South Korea in a nail-biting extra-inning game at the Tokyo Dome yesterday. Boosted by three home runs — two solo shots by Yu Chang (張育成) and Cheng Tsung-che (鄭宗哲) and a two-run homer by Stuart Fairchild — the triumph gave Taiwan a much-needed second victory in the five-team Pool C, where only the top two finishers would advance to the knockout stage in Miami, Florida. Entering extra innings with the game tied at four apiece, Taiwan scored
MISSION OF PEACE: The foreign minister urged Beijing to respect Taiwan’s existence as an independent nation, and work together to ensure peace and stability in the region Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) yesterday rejected Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi’s (王毅) comments about Taiwan, criticizing China as a “troublemaker” in the international community and a disruptor of cross-strait peace. Speaking at a news conference on the sidelines of the Chinese National People’s Congress, Wang said that Taiwan has always been a territory of China and that it would be impossible for it to become its own country. The “return” of Taiwan to China was the natural outcome of the Chinese people’s resistance against Japan in World War II, and that any pursuit of independence was “doomed
One person was killed and another seven injured today when a tourist shuttle bus plunged 30m to 40m down a ravine in Nantou County, the Tourism Administration said. The bus is suspected to have suddenly accelerated out of control near the flower center of the Sun-Link-Sea Forest Recreation Area, a popular attraction during cherry blossom season. Of the eight onboard, a 66-year-old man was killed, four were seriously injured and three sustained minor injuries, including the driver. The Nantou County Police Department said it received a report of the incident at 12:15pm and dispatched seven teams to assist. All surviving passengers have been transferred
RSS