What is the penalty for enticing others to use illegal drugs?
T. is my neighbor, a drug addict for many years. T. has persuaded my child to use drugs. May I ask, according to the law, what responsibility does T. bear?
The issue of concern of Mr. Cao The Hung (Do Luong, Nghe An).
Reply: Enticing others to illegally use drugs is understood as the act of using words and actions to entice, entice, and arouse the desire of others to illegally use drugs. Clause 5, Article 5 of the 2021 Law on Drug Prevention and Control stipulates one of the prohibited acts: Using, organizing illegal use of drugs, forcing, enticing others to illegally use drugs, harboring, and supporting illegal use of drugs.
The act of enticing and luring others to illegally use drugs violates the State's regulations on drug management and use, and directly affects the health and even the lives of the person being enticed and those around them.
Therefore, Vietnamese law has sanctions to strictly handle the act of enticing others to illegally use drugs.
Specifically, Article 258 of the 2015 Penal Code, amended and supplemented in 2017, stipulates the crime of enticing others to illegally use drugs:
- Anyone who entices, entices, incites or uses other tricks to entice others to illegally use drugs shall be sentenced to imprisonment from 1 to 5 years.
- Committing a crime in one of the following cases shall be punished with imprisonment from 5 to 10 years: Organized, committing the crime 2 times or more, for base motives or for personal gain, against people from 13 years old to under 18 years old, against women who are known to be pregnant, against 2 people or more, against people undergoing drug rehabilitation, causing harm to the health of others with a body injury rate of 31% to 60%, causing dangerous diseases to others, dangerous recidivism.
- When committing a crime in one of the following cases, the penalty is imprisonment from 10 to 15 years: causing harm to the health of another person with a bodily injury rate of 61% or more or causing death. Causing dangerous diseases to 2 or more people, for people under 13 years old.
- Committing a crime that causes the death of two or more people is punishable by imprisonment from 15 to 20 years or life imprisonment.
- Offenders may also be fined from 5 to 100 million VND.
Based on the above provisions, the act of enticing or enticing others to illegally use drugs will be criminally prosecuted with a minimum prison sentence of 1-5 years. Depending on the nature, extent and consequences of the act, the perpetrator may be prosecuted with a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.
Compared with your son's case, because you have not provided enough information such as your son's age. If your son is over 18 years old, T. can be prosecuted with a minimum penalty of 1 - 5 years in prison. If your son is between 13 and under 18 years old or T. entices or entices others to illegally use drugs 2 or more times, T. will be prosecuted with a penalty of 5 - 10 years in prison.
