On the afternoon of June 10, the National Assembly Standing Committee gave its opinion on the reception, explanation, and revision of the draft Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Penal Code (amended).
One of the notable contents of the draft law is to add the crime of illegal use of drugs to the draft law.
According to the Government's report, the draft stipulates that only those who are in the process of drug rehabilitation or have just finished the drug rehabilitation process but continue to illegally use drugs will be handled and based on 4 grounds.
First, implement the policy of applying stricter criminal policies to reduce drug demand, prevent the relationship between drug supply and demand.
Second, the practical work of fighting, preventing and combating crimes and violations of drug laws shows that the current situation of drug addiction is very complicated, the number of drug addicts is on the rise.
Drugs are one of the common causes of other crimes such as theft, fraud, extortion, and robbery.
Illegal drug users fall into a state of "petrol", committing particularly serious crimes such as murder, rape... tend to increase.
According to statistics, from January 1, 2018 to May 31, 2025, the rate of crimes committed by illegal drug users accounts for about 10% of the total number of detected crimes; of which, very serious crimes and especially serious crimes account for 5.3%.
In particular, the murder crimes committed by drug addicts and illegal drug users during this time were over 200 cases (including over 40 cases of killing relatives in the family).
Third, the current law stipulates the handling of the crime of illegal possession of drugs and this crime is mainly for those who store them for use.
Thus, a person after buying drugs for use, if discovered before he can use them, will be prosecuted for illegal possession of drugs, while if he is or has used them, will not be prosecuted for the corresponding behavior.
Fourth, drug addicts, if not managed well to reduce the number of addicts, will " spread" to others.
Practice shows that the number of illegal drug users and drug addicts is trending younger, a part of young people are easily lured and dragged into the path of illegal drug use, seeking drugs to relieve pressure in life; many people consider using drugs as a way to express themselves.
Without effective measures to "reduc demand", the risk of affecting the quality of labor resources and rice straw is a burning issue.
The draft law also amends the regulations on the starting penalty for 3 crimes: illegal production of drugs, illegal transportation of drugs and illegal drug trafficking from 2 years in prison to 3 years in prison.
This regulation is to ensure that it is commensurate with the nature and level of danger of the crime and correlated with the initial penalty for illegal possession of drugs of 3 years in prison.
