opinions
The new anti-drug law
Federal Decree Law No. (30) of 2021 regarding combating narcotics and psychotropic substances is a real legislative shift that reflects the UAE legislator’s keeping pace with the pulse of the street and its keenness to meet the needs of society, and to comply with global trends in legislation.
Looking at the most important feature of the new law, which will be implemented at the beginning of the fifty-first year of the state’s life, we find that it took into account the conviction and demands of doctors, psychologists, sociologists, and legal practitioners not to deal with drug users - along the line - as a criminal who must be imprisoned with hardened criminals. Rather, he is a patient who must be treated and reintegrated back into society, so it stipulates in its seventh article: “The establishment of specialized centers to implement the penalty of imprisonment in crimes of abuse and personal use of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances. Family, career and social integration programmes.
The Council of Ministers shall issue the regulation for the work of these centers based on a proposal from the Minister of Interior in coordination with the relevant authorities, and it shall be implemented as of the date specified by the regulation. The ministries and agencies shall provide the services and programs stipulated in the first paragraph, each according to its competence
This represents a human and social leap by all standards, capable of saving young people who are caught up in the trap of addiction, especially young people who are motivated by curiosity and love of experiment or deceived by bad friends.
Among the notable amendments in the new legislation is the reduction of the drug abuser’s penalty from imprisonment from two years to three months, which is the scientifically sufficient period for the end of the drug’s effect on the human body, so that the period of his rehabilitation and rescue begins. treatment.
There is no doubt that amending the deportation penalty and making it permissive for the judge, instead of being mandatory - according to the previous law - represents a move by all standards, as the judge has the discretionary authority for each case or case according to its circumstances and the size of the offense. Every person has the right to have a second chance to correct his situation, Especially if he does not have a criminal record or has been convicted of drug use before.
In view of the practical reality, there are people who were working hard and providing for their families with discipline who tried drugs for once, but it was enough to arrest and convict them and then obligatorily expel them from the state by virtue of the previous law, but under the new legislation the situation is different, and opportunities are equal for everyone, residents of our beloved country They have an emotional attachment to it, and there is no doubt that this will not affect the expected deterrence of rulings, in light of the wisdom of the Emirati legislator and the genius of the law.
May God protect the homeland, the leadership, the people, and the land.
Lawyer
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