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| In a work session of persons undergoing drug rehabilitation at Drug Rehabilitation Facility No. 4, Hanoi__Photo: VGP |
Drug-related crime is closely linked to other forms of criminal activities. Therefore, efforts to prevent and combat drug-related offences help reduce crime and maintain public order and safety.
“Reducing demand” for drug use is considered a fundamental task and a measure of the long-term effectiveness of drug control work. This requires identification of illicit drug users and drug addicts.
Against this backdrop, the 2025 Law on Drug Prevention and Control (the Law) and its amendments establish a comprehensive legal framework to strengthen the identification and management of illegal drug users and drug addicts.
Stricter procedures for drug testing and addiction assessment
The Law introduces tighter measures for managing illegal drug users, drug addicts and those subject to post-rehabilitation monitoring, covering the entire process from the detection of illicit drug use and assessment of addiction status to the completion of post-rehabilitation monitoring.
In addition, the 2025 amendments to the Penal Code introduced Article 256a, which imposes penalties of up to five years’ imprisonment for illegal drug use.
Under the Law, drug test results will be required when considering legal action against individuals suspected of illegal drug use. These results provide objective evidence for determining whether a person has used drugs unlawfully.
The Law also allows escorting individuals who fail to comply with drug testing requests to testing facilities according to administrative procedures. This is a deterrent measure for those who intend to use drugs illicitly while strengthening law enforcement.
Greater responsibility for commune-level public security forces
The Law also revises procedures for determining drug addiction status, assigning greater responsibility to commune-level public security forces for monitoring drug use cases and coordinating addiction assessment and rehabilitation management.
Specifically, individuals registering for voluntary drug rehabilitation must undergo an addiction assessment if they have no certificate confirming their addiction status or if their certificate of confirmation was issued more than six months by the date of registration. The application for voluntary drug rehabilitation must be certified by the commune-level public security agency.
These changes are expected to improve the management of drug addicts and strengthen state oversight of drug rehabilitation activities.
More stringent rehabilitation and post-rehabilitation management
The Law also introduces more rigorous requirements for drug rehabilitation and post-rehabilitation monitoring.
Under Article 29.1, the rehabilitation period is set at 24 months for those undergoing first-time rehabilitation or 36 months for those undergoing rehabilitation for the second time onwards. This is intended to ensure equal treatment among persons receiving rehabilitation, establish consistent rehabilitation durations and minimise negative practices in decisions on the grant of reductions in rehabilitation periods. These provisions also seek to strengthen deterrence against those subject to compulsory rehabilitation and prevent the risk of relapse.
Furthermore, Article 47.1 states that individuals sentenced to termed imprisonment while undergoing drug rehabilitation or post-rehabilitation monitoring must resume implementing these measures after serving their sentences if the duration of rehabilitation or post-rehabilitation monitoring has not yet expired. He amendments have helped put an end to the situation in which offenders deliberately commit less serious offences in order to receive a sentence that is shorter than the duration of compulsory rehabilitation.
The new policy also seeks to ensure adequate and effective rehabilitation for drug addicts, thereby strengthening compliance with drug prevention and control regulations.- (VLLF)
