Congressman's claim cocaine haul was for personal use doubted

An expert giving evidence in a drug-trafficking trial involving a Philippine congressman said there was insufficient evidence to prove that he was a heavy cocaine user.

Lam Ming, a consultant psychiatrist specialising in substance abuse, was speaking at a hearing to determine whether Ronald Singson's claim that the drugs were for personal use was true.

Singson, 41, had pleaded guilty in the District Court to trafficking 14.8 grams of a powder that contained 6.67 grams of cocaine, as well as two pills of the tranquiliser diazepam. He was arrested at Hong Kong International Airport on July 11, on his way to a poker tournament in Macau.

Singson had claimed he took four grams of cocaine a day as a form of 'self-medication' for depression and for 'self-destruction'. His experts told the court that he turned to snorting cocaine to numb himself after arguing with his girlfriend, and losing a HK$2 million investment in a concert and HK$3 million at gambling.

However, Lam said he could not conclude whether Singson was a cocaine user based on the medical reports made by his experts because he had given inconsistent evidence. Lam said while Singson told a drug-addiction specialist that he started taking cocaine six years ago, he told a psychiatrist it was 10 years ago. He also gave differing accounts on whether he last took cocaine a month or two days before his arrest.

'He can simply pretend to be a cocaine abuser by describing the cocaine dependence symptoms,' Lam said. 'How can you be sure that he is giving reliable evidence?'