The Macao government has added five internationally controlled substances to its list of banned drugs after the Legislative Assembly took urgent measures yesterday to pass a bill to update the city’s anti-drug legislation, multiple news outlets report.
This follows a similar measure late last year that saw authorities add 16 new drugs to the list.
Four of the new substances on the list are opiate analgesics: 2-methyl-AP-237 (hydrochloride), Etazene, Etonitazepyne and Protonitazene. The fifth is a synthetic cannabinoid known as ADB-BUTINACA.
While introducing the bill, the secretary for security Wong Sio Chak pointed out that at the UN’s 66th session of the Commision on Narcotic Drugs last year, seven substances were proposed for international control, with Macao’s banned drugs list only covering two of them. The current law fills in the gap in the city’s current legislation.
[See more: Is Macao becoming a hub for drug traffickers?]
Wong also mentioned that only one of the new substances included on the list, ADB-BUTINACA, has been found in Macao and that it was involved in a total of 17 cases.
During the session, he was also asked by lawmaker Leong Sun Iok about the use of opioids in e-cigarettes. Wong responded by stating that e-cigarettes do not come under anti-drug legislation but are regulated under other laws.
The law enforcement head, however, did not discount the possibility of incorporating vaping under the banned substance legislation, noting that the authorities would consider it if its use as a vehicle for illicit drugs became severe.
Wong stated that there were only four cases of drug-related use of vapes recently – three from last year and one from this year.
