Excise dept drafts bill to control ice, other narcotics

Sindh Minister for Excise and Taxation, Narcotics Control and Parliamentary Affairs Mukesh Kumar Chawla has said the provincial excise department had drafted the Sindh Control of Narcotics Substances Bill 2019.

He said this while presiding over a meeting in his office on Wednesday, according to the excise department spokesman.

The bill provides for severe punishments for those who are found involved in the sale of ice (methamphetamine) because it is a deadly drug and has taken the lives of many young men and destroyed so many families. Secretary for Excise and Taxation and Narcotics Control Abdul Halim Shaikh, Director General Shoaib Ahmed Siddiqui, Karachi Director Iqbal Laghari and other officers also attended the meeting.

The minister said: “The proposed bill will be tabled in the Sindh Assembly soon for approval and after its approval it will be implemented in letter and spirit.”

Briefing the meeting, Director General Siddiqui said that in the proposed draft bill, a Rs500,000 fine and seven years’ rigorous imprisonment had been suggested for those who would be caught in possession of less than 100 grams of ice (methamphetamine), a Rs1million fine and 10 years’ rigorous imprisonment for those who would be caught with more than 100 grams of ice , a Rs1.5 million fine and 14 years’ rigorous imprisonment for those who would arrested with more than one kilogram of ice, and death penalty and a Rs2.5 million fine to be handed down to those who would be apprehended with 100 kilograms of ice.

Chawla expressed the hope that such severe punishments would definitely discourage the sale of ice. He requested the parents and teachers and other stakeholders in society to work together to save the young generation from the use of drugs. Some days ago, suspected drug dealer Asad Ullah was arrested near the Government Degree Science College Liaquatabad and one kilogram and five grams of ice was found on him.