Pubdate: Wed, 11 Apr 2001
Source: Minneapolis Star-Tribune (MN)
Copyright: 2001 Star Tribune
Contact:  http://www.startribune.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/266

LAOS MAY EXECUTE DRUG TRAFFICKERS

VIENTIANE, Laos (AP) -- Laos, one of the world' s leading opium 
producers, will soon introduce the death penalty for serious drug 
offenses, an official newspaper reported Wednesday.

The National Assembly of the communist state approved an amendment to 
the penal code Tuesday before ending its current parliamentary 
session. Previously, serious drug trafficking and possession offenses 
carried a maximum 10-year jail sentence.

The tougher penalties are a way to " halt the potential danger to the 
youth in the future and to the safety and security of the country, " 
said a parliamentary resolution quoted by Vientiane Mai newspaper.

The change in the law, expected to get final approval within the next 
month from the country' s president, will bring it in line with 
strict anti-drug legislation in other Southeast Asian countries.

The death penalty will apply to offenders guilty of possession, use, 
sale or trafficking of more than 17.9 ounces of heroin, 6.6 pounds of 
amphetamines or 22 pounds of chemicals used to produce illegal drugs.

Possession of more than 22 pounds of marijuana or 11 pounds of opium 
- -- drugs which are both farmed extensively in Laos -- will be 
punishable with life imprisonment.

Laos lies in Southeast Asia' s drug-producing Golden Triangle and is 
the world' s third largest producer of opium, the source of heroin. 
The government has resolved to eradicate opium -- a cash crop for 
thousands of its poorest farmers -- by 2006.

A Western diplomat based in Vientiane said it was still not clear 
when the new penalties would actually take effect, as the government 
plans first to disseminate information about the amended law to 
educate the public.

A wide range of offenses, including acts of rebellion, betraying 
state secrets, killing a state official and homicide carry the death 
penalty in Laos, though it is rarely applied.
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MAP posted-by: Josh Sutcliffe