The Ministry of Justice has drafted an amendment to the Narcotics Endangerment Prevention Act (毒品危害防治條例) that would widen the definition of illegal drugs in two categories and could see more people convicted on drug charges, Minister of Justice Chiu Tai-san (邱太三) told lawmakers at a recent legislative committee meeting.
Article 11 of the act, which stipulates the penalties for possession of Category 1 or 2 drugs, would be revised to redefine illegal substances as “narcotics” rather than “pure narcotics,” he said.
It also stipulates a lower threshold for the amount of Category 3 and 4 drugs that could lead to a conviction, Chiu said.
The law allows prosecution for possession of more than 20g of Category 3 or 4 narcotics, and a fine for people found with less than 20g, but the proposed amendment would lower the threshold for prosecution to 5g, the minister said.
The present penalty for possession of Category 1 and 2 drugs ranges from six months to seven years in prison as well as a fine of between NT$700,000 and NT$1 million (US$23,202 and US$33,145.5).
The Cabinet has allocated NT$177.73 million from a government reserve fund to purchase drug testing equipment and employ more trained staff as part of efforts to more efficiently test new types of narcotics, Deputy Minister of Justice Chang Tou-hui (張斗輝) said.
Chinese spouse and influencer Guan Guan’s (關關) residency permit has been revoked for repeatedly posting pro-China videos that threaten national security, the National Immigration Agency confirmed today. Guan Guan has said many controversial statements in her videos posted to Douyin (抖音), including “the red flag will soon be painted all over Taiwan” and “Taiwan is an inseparable part of China,” and expressing hope for expedited reunification. The agency last year received multiple reports alleging that Guan Guan had advocated for armed reunification. After verifying the reports, the agency last month issued a notice requiring her to appear and explain her actions. Guan
The Kaohsiung Tourism Bureau audited six hotels in an effort to prevent price gouging ahead of Korean band BTS’ concert tour in the city scheduled for Nov. 19, 21 and 22 this year. The bureau on Friday said that the audits — conducted in response to allegations of unfair pricing posted on social media — found no wrongdoing. These establishments included the local branches of Chateau de Chine, Hotel Nikko, My Humble House, and Grand Hai Lai, it said, adding that the Consumer Protection Commission would have penalized price gougers had the accusations been substantiated. The bureau said the Tourism Development Act
BACK TO WINTER: A strong continental cold air mass would move south on Tuesday next week, bringing colder temperatures to northern and central Taiwan A tropical depression east of the Philippines could soon be upgraded to be the first tropical storm of this year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, adding that the next cold air mass is forecast to arrive on Monday next week. CWA forecaster Cheng Jie-ren (鄭傑仁) said the first tropical depression of this year is over waters east of the Philippines, about 1,867km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), and could strengthen into Tropical Storm Nokaen by early today. The system is moving slowly from northwest to north, and is expected to remain east of the Philippines with little chance of affecting Taiwan,
The military yesterday said it has located the flight data recorder, or black box, of an F-16V jet that disappeared off eastern Taiwan earlier this month, and it would soon deploy a salvage team to try to retrieve it. Air Force Command Headquarters said that while it had pinned down the location of the black box, it was still searching for the aircraft’s sole pilot, air force Captain Hsin Po-yi (辛柏毅). Without providing details, the air force said it had located the black box days after detecting some intermittent signals and would now engage a team of professionals to retrieve it. The air
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