The Drug Court formed under the new Drugs Act began its first trial last week.
While the first preliminary hearings by the court were held on June 17, local media reported that the first trial commenced on August 15.
According to the Drug Court, 312 cases have already been filed and the court has ordered the National Drug Agency to draft indicative assessment reports for47 individuals to determine their level of drug addiction.
The Drug Court was established under the Drugs Act passed by parliament in 2011, which was intended to move away from a punitive approach against “small scale drug offences” to rehabilitating drug addicts.
In May, State Minister for Health and Family Lubna Zahir Hussein told Minivan News that the new law and court represented long-needed changes to drug policy.
