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"The Government is therefore proposing legislative amendments to remove the exemptions or alternative arrangements."
Further amendments are proposed to revise the form of the register stipulated under the First Schedule to the Dangerous Drugs Regulations, with a view to simplifying the form, but including additional information, such as the identity card number of the patient, which are needed to monitor the supply of dangerous drugs.
To complement the legislative amendments, the Government also proposes to increase the maximum fine from $50,000 to $450,000 for offences in contravention of the record-keeping requirements.
"The increase is proposed after taking into account the time lapse since the fine was first set, the community's concern about illicit sale of drugs by some medical practitioners and pharmacies, and the need to revise the fine to a sufficiently high level to reinforce deterrent effect," the spokesman explained.
A resolution to increase the fine will be moved by the Secretary for Security at the Legislative Council sitting of May 22.
"The whole package of proposals represents a positive step taken by the Government to address the problem of illicit sale of dangerous drugs," the spokesman said.
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124 VMs depart on orderly repatriation flight
A group of 124 Vietnamese migrants (VMs) returned by air to Hanoi, Vietnam today (Wednesday) on the 36th flight under the Orderly Repatriation Programme (ORP).
All of the returnees, comprising 48 men, 39 women, 14 boys and 23 girls, are from North Vietnam.
The majority of them arrived in Hong Kong in 1989, with the remaining in 1991 and 1995.
The group brought to 2,764 the total number repatriated on ORP flights since November 1991.
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