Sainimili Magimagi 
Drug cartels are now manufacturing substances that are not yet listed under existing drug laws.
This is according to Inspector Jemesa Lave, who says legal loopholes are one of the setbacks in the fight against the illicit drug trade.
Lave explains that when these substances are tested, they are not classified as illegal under current criminal legislation because they are not included in the schedule of controlled substances.
These are known as New Psychoactive Substances.
Lave says other countries have addressed this issue by giving ministers the power to quickly gazette and add new substances to the illicit drugs list without having to go through the full parliamentary process.
“So rather than have to go to Parliament, they just have the minister empowered to put up the gazette, because they manufacture this every time. It is not recognized in the illicit substances list, but it gives the same effect as cocaine and all the other drugs, yet it is not on the same list.”
He says traffickers constantly modify chemical compositions, producing drugs that have the same effects as cocaine and other hard drugs, but because they are not formally listed, they fall outside the current legal framework.
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