Ho Chi Minh City lawmakers have appealed to the law-making National Assembly (NA) for a special mechanism that would allow city authorities to directly handle drug addicts instead of waiting for formal decisions by courts and higher competent agencies to send them to detoxification institutions. 

>> Voluntary drug detoxification a flop in Vietnam The city’s delegation attending the ongoing NA sitting mentioned such a mechanism in a proposal submitted to NA chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung and Truong Thi Mai – chairwoman of the NA Committee for Social Affairs – on Monday, according to Huynh Thanh Lap, head of the delegation. The proposition is understood as a bid to battle increased drug addiction in the city which is the biggest economic hub of the country.     Lap said the delegation proposed the NA allow Ho Chi Minh City to apply the mechanism to directly and immediately deal with drug addicts, when waiting for decisions by competent agencies or court orders before sending them to drug detoxification facilities, as required by the Law on the Handling of Administrative Violations.       The ratification of the mechanism would permit city centers tasked with coping with social evils to temporarily stop drug addicts' rush of addiction on the spot, offer them preliminary detoxification, and provide them with initial psychological consultancy pending such decisions or orders, the head elaborated.    “This is an urgent solution, as drug addiction is spreading widely, creating unrest among the general public,” Lap told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper on Monday. These centers should do the rehab work instead of social organizations, as stipulated in the law. Pursuant to Vietnamese laws, drug addicts can be sent to a drug detoxification facility only when a court judgment is issued for this purpose and when the drug addicts fail to kick their habits after being monitored for three to six months by their local authorities, the delegation head said.  

Nguyen Thi Quyet Tam (R), deputy secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee and chairwoman of the city People’s Council, speaks at a National Assembly meeting on October 21, 2014.

In practice, such regulations are unfeasible as most drug addicts are homeless so they cannot be put under any supervision, Lap said.

Meanwhile, the city is now home to numerous drug addicts who come from other provinces and cities, he added. As a result, drug addiction has become increasingly rampant in the city, with the number of addicts growing fast, agitating local residents. Many dwellers in Ho Chi Minh City have voiced their great concern about the issue and requested timely action from authorities, Lap said. “Therefore, the NA delegation of Ho Chi Minh City wishes the legislature to listen and respond to their appeals,” the official said. In its proposal, the delegation also asked the NA to adopt a resolution during its ongoing eighth session to allow the city to apply the said mechanism. Nguyen Thi Quyet Tam, deputy secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee and chairwoman of the city People’s Council, suggested that such a mechanism should be applied in a number of other localities to drive back drug addiction as well. Based on its actual effects, lawmakers would consider amendments to relevant laws in the future, Tam said. “The NA should take this issue into account immediately,” she added.

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