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WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 30, 1991
HE SAID THE QUANTITIES SPECIFIED FOR VARIOUS DRUGS HAD HISTORICALLY BEEN SET ON THE BASIS OF THE AMOUNT OF THE DRUG FORMING A SINGLE DOSE; 10 DOSES FOR THE LESS ADDICTIVE DRUGS, AND FIVE DOSES FOR THE MORE ADDICTIVE ONES.
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"TWO OF THE PRESUMPTIVE LEVELS REFER RESPECTIVELY TO THE NUMBER OF PACKETS AND TO THE WEIGHT OF A MIXTURE CONTAINING HEROIN, MR ASPREY SAID.
HE ADDED THAT THESE LEVELS WERE SET BASED ON THE DRUG SITUATION IN THE EARLY 1970'S, WHEN HIGH PURITY "NO, 4" HEROIN WAS VIRTUALLY NON-EXISTENT IN HONG KONG, THE HEROIN CONSUMED LOCALLY BEING THE
"NO.
3"
MIXTURE, WITH A STABLE HEROIN CONTENT OF ABOUT 30 PER CENT. "NO. 3" HEROIN WAS NORMALLY SOLD IN SINGLE DOSE PACKETS EACH WEIGHING BETWEEN 0.3 AND 0.4 OF A GRAM, AND THE AVERAGE ADDICT WOULD USE ABOUT FIVE PACKETS A DAY.
HENCE, THE PRESUMPTIVE LEVELS WERE SET AT "FIVE PACKETS" AND AND A HALF GRAMS OF MIXTURE" BOTH EQUATING то A DAILY CONSUMPTION OF ABOUT HALF A GRAM OF PURE HEROIN, HE SAID.
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HE SAID THE SIGNIFICANT DECLINE IN THE PURITY OF "NO. 3" HEROIN SINCE THE EARLY 1980'S (TO ABOUT THREE PER CENT TODAY), AND THE EMERGENCE OF NO. 4 HEROIN, OF ABOUT 75 PER CENT PURITY, AT STREET LEVEL IN THE LAST TWO YEARS, HAD CHANGED THE LOCAL DRUG ABUSE PATTERN.
"MOST LOCAL ADDICTS NOW CONSUME EITHER 'NO. 4' HEROIN OR A MIXTURE OF 'NO. 3' AND 'NO. 4'.
"THOSE WHO CONSUME 'NO. 3' HEROIN WILL NORMALLY USE IN ONE DAY MORE THAN THE TWO AND A HALF GRAMS OF MIXTURE REQUIRED TO TRIGGER THE PRESUMPTION THAT THEY ARE IN POSSESSION OF THE DRUG FOR THE PURPOSE OF TRAFFICKING.
MR ASPREY SAID THERE HAD ALSO BEEN CHANGES IN RETAIL PRACTICE.
IN ADDITION TO PACKETS, HEROIN WAS NOW OFTEN SOLD IN SEALED DRINKING STRAWS OR IN SYRINGES.
THE SECRETARY SAID CLAUSE 2(A) OF THE BILL AMENDED SECTION 46(C) OF THE ORDINANCE BY RAISING THE PRESUMPTION OF POSSESSION FOR THE PURPOSE OF TRAFFICKING WHERE A PERSON WAS IN POSSESSION OF MORK THAN FIVE CONTAINERS OF DANGEROUS DRUGS.
"THE REFERENCE TO 'CONTAINERS' IS TO RECOGNISE THE CHANGES IN
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RETAIL PRACTICE, HE SAID.
ON THE OTHER HAND, HE SAID CLAUSE 2(9) AMENDED SECTION 46(D) BY RAISING THE PRESUMPTION WHERE MORE THAN ONE OF THE DANGEROUS DRUGS LISTED WERE POSSESSED AND THE TOTAL WEIGHT OF THE DANGEROUS DRUGS WAS HALF A GRAM OR MORE.
THE SECTION AS PRESENTLY WORDED WOULD APPEAR NOT TO COVER HALF A GRAM OF A MIXTURE CONTAINING, FOR EXAMPLE, A QUARTER GRAM OF DIACETYL MORPHINE HYDROCHLORIDE AND A QUARTER GRAM OF MONOCETYL MORPHINE HYDROCHLORIDE, BOTH OF WHICH WERE DANGEROUS DRUGS.
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