The Hon. Chaminda Wijesiri

¶ 01 Hon. Minister, when police arrest someone for possession or use of illicit drugs like heroin or cannabis, they send the seized substance to the Government Analyst to confirm whether it is indeed that drug and its type. The arresting officer may record that it is “powder” or “ganja,” but this must be confirmed by the Government Analyst. Until then, the suspect is remanded. This suggests a lacuna in the law: to convict and sentence, the GA report is necessary; however, until that report is received, the person must remain on remand. If the GA later says it is not the alleged drug, the person walks free; if it confirms heroin, he goes to prison. Meanwhile, society treats him as a criminal. Is this fair?

¶ 02 Another serious issue is that instead of arresting large-scale traffickers, many users are being arrested, and some officers may be inclined to proceed under harsher provisions to increase workload for the suspects and keep them in remand. I have discussed this with the Minister in charge of Police as well. As a practical Minister, can you devise a legal or procedural relief mechanism to address this?