The Legislative Assembly (AL) yesterday passed unanimously a government-initiated bill which adds various substances to the drug list of Macau’s anti-drug law, including etomidate* which is the main active ingredient of a new drug with the street name “space oil”.
The law is officially known as the Law on the Prohibition of the Illicit Production, Trafficking and Consumption of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances.
As the government had requested an urgent procedure for the bill’s debate and vote, it was not arranged for review by any of the legislature’s standing committees before its final article-by-article debate and vote. Therefore, after the outline of the bill was passed in yesterday’s plenary session, its final article-by-article debate and vote were then immediately carried out. The lawmakers passed the bill article-by-article.
The amendment bill will take legal effect the next day after its promulgation in the Official Gazette (BO).
Secretary for Security Wong Sio Chak introduced the outline of the bill during yesterday’s plenary session in the legislature’s hemicycle.
In addition to etomidate, the amendments will also list metomidate, propoxate, and isopropoxate, all of which are analogues of etomidate, in the anti-drug law.
Wong noted yesterday that after the mainland authorities listed the four substances one after another in their anti-drug legislation in 2023 and 2024, the Hong Kong government also listed the four substances in February this year.
Wong also noted that drug users normally use an e-cigarette heating device to inhale space oil, pointing out that according to the current version of Macau’s anti-smoking law, the manufacture, distribution, sale, import and export of e-cigarettes are prohibited in the city.
Meanwhile, Wong also noted that the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs passed a decision in a meeting last year to list an additional 23 substances subject to international control. Among the 23 additional substances, Wong noted, 20 are currently not listed in the current version of Macau’s anti-drug law.
Consequently, Wong said that the local government drafted the amendment bill also proposing to list the 20 additional substances in the anti-drug law.
*Etomidate is a short-acting, intravenous imidazole-derived anaesthetic agent used primarily for the induction of general anaesthesia and for sedation during short medical procedures. – DeepSeek
Secretary for Security Wong Sio Chak addresses yesterday’s plenum in the legislature’s hemicycle. – Photo: GCS
