Court Ordered Drug Rehabilitation

Courts to Order Drug Addicts into Drug Rehab

Drug offenders given suspended sentences will be forced to undergo Drug Rehabilitation. The Ministry of Health and Welfare on Friday announced revisions to the nation’s drug control laws that would give courts the power to order drug addicts to undergo Drug Rehab for their affliction.

Under the revised law, a court handing down a suspended sentence to an drug addict can simultaneously order the individual into a drug rehab program. The order would take effect immediately, with treatment lasting as long as a year.

Currently, the government has no means of imposing drug rehab for drug addicts but instead tries to encourage addicts to seek drug addiction treatment on their own.

"Drug addicts who have been ordered by a court to drug rehab will get free care either in a hospital or as an outpatient treatment," a Ministry of Health official said. The ministry warned that addicts who violate the drug rehab order may be warned or taken into custody by their parole officer. For severe violations the suspension of the prison sentence could be revoked.

The revision also adds a number of drugs to the list of narcotics including Amineptin, Salvia Divinorum, Salvinorin A, quazepam and Ketamine. In order to block illegal outflow of drugs, the revision establishes a protocol for those handling them that includes making reports when they dispose of expired or contaminated drugs.