“The Authorized Response to Medicine and Social Provide: The Case of Hong Kong“
Karen A Joe-Laidler, Kate Lowe, Simon NM Younger and Tin H Cheung
Hong Kong Regulation Journal, Vol. 53, Half 3 of 2023, pp.913 – 939
Summary: Drug exchanges are sometimes embedded in non-commercially oriented, casual preparations amongst social networks. Such exchanges are primarily based on a social provide paradigm the place reciprocity and sharing are integral to acquiring and consuming medication. This raises questions as to how the justice system responds to this sort of engagement with the market. Whereas some nations have accommodated to the realities of social provide with a relatively lenient method, others have taken a special route. We study Hong Kong’s authorized response to the emergence of social provide within the context of its frequent legislation system and prohibitionist drug insurance policies. We draw on 96 authorized instances involving social trafficking. In step with the frequent legislation system, Hong Kong courts draw on UK instances in contemplating social trafficking, however diverge in its rationale, discovering that “trafficking is trafficking”. As such, the courts haven’t considered social trafficking as a mitigating issue as elsewhere, nevertheless it has additionally not been seen as an aggravating issue. Our Evaluation means that the mitigating impact of self-consumption is being offset by the consideration of latent threat. This authorized response leads us to conclude that the emergence of social provide has not challenged however bolstered Hong Kong’s prohibitionist insurance policies.
