The National Assembly passed the Narcotic Drugs, Psychotropic Substances, and Substance Abuse (amendment) Bill 2017, today. 38 of the 42 members present in the house voted in favour of the changes in the bill.
The amendment of section 59 in the bill gives the Bhutan Narcotics Control Authority (BNCA) the power to add, delete, and quantify any substances deemed to be abused or trafficked.
The only member who voted against the amendment, MP Dorji Wangdi, said there are chances of misuse of power. “If we give power to another authority, it will not suffice the legal intend,” said the Opposition MP from Panbang.
“The parliament makes the law, and if we give power to another institution to make changes to the law, they might misuse the power or unintentionally overlook in some cases. This might not be how we work in the parliament.”
The amendment was tabled this session as an urgent bill after the Supreme Court in July, in its first case on Spasmo Proxyvon Plus (SP+) abuse, ruled that the BNCA could update the list of banned drugs as and when necessary.
The amendment also added Tramadol, a new narcotic drug with medicinal value, to schedule III of the bill.
The bill will now be forward to the National Council.
