Parliament, AG clash over narcotics law

Parliament and the Attorney General on Tuesday clashed on who should reintroduce the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (control) Bill 2023 which was nullified by court.

The Constitutional Court on May 6, 2023, nullified the entire Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Control Act of 2016 on grounds that it was passed without the required quorum in Parliament.

While seeking leave of Parliament to introduce a private members bill by Bugiri Municipality MP, Asuman Basalirwa and colleagues, Attorney General Kiwanuka Kiryowa intervened and asked Parliament to allow government reintroduce the bill.

According to Kiryowa, this was a government bill and it is not in order for a private member to take over, asking the house to give the government time to bring back this bill, on grounds that it will save time.

This raised the eyebrows of Members of Parliament who were divided with some saying the bill be introduced by the government while others saying it should be introduced by a private member.

The Speaker of Parliament, Anita Amongi reached a resolution and asked the Attorney General to present the bill on Thursday or it goes to a private member.

Parliament had put in place this law to ban several drugs including Cannabis, Bush Cocoa, and specifically Mairungi on grounds that it is a psychoactive drug that contains cathinone and cathine, a substance known for several side effects such as increased blood pressure among others.