Govt finalises draft of Narcotics Control Act: Home minister

The government has finalised the draft of the new Narcotics Control Act keeping death penalty as the maximum punishment to curb drug abuse and smuggling, reports BSS.

"In the draft law, we have proposed death penalty as the maximum punishment. We have also included 'Yaba' and 'Shisha' as drugs in the new draft law," Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal told the news agency.

He said the draft law proposes making separate courts or tribunals for the trial of drug related crimes.

The home minister said the government can set up separate courts at metropolitan and district levels to complete trials as soon as possible.

Kamal said the total capacity of the country's jails is only 35,000. But, there are around 80,000 inmates in the jails while 40 percent of them are drug related criminals,

he added.