Support for curbs on soft drugs

A MOTION pressing for action to prohibit the illegal sale of soft drugs won majority backing in the chamber.

Dr Leong Che-hung, the medical profession's representative, called on the Government to plug loopholes in laws and enforcement procedures and cut the channels for selling soft drugs.

The original impetus to stop the trade came from Tam Yiu-chung of the Democratic Association for the Betterment of Hong Kong.

Dr Leong said there were only a few black sheep in the medical profession engaging in the illicit sales.

He said that under the current laws, it was almost impossible to convict a medical practitioner for 'drug peddling' until the law differentiated between what constituted bona fide medical treatment and drug peddling.

He added that existing laws contained loopholes. He cited an example showing that the Medical Council, the body which assesses professional misconduct, could at most impose a maximum penalty of removal of the person's name from the practitioner register for a drug-dealing conviction.