OVERVIEW
The Hong Kong Committee on Narcotics has proposed a new scheme whereby law enforcement officers who reasonably suspect that a person has consumed drugs are authorized to compel that person to undergo a drug test. The RESCUE Drug Testing Scheme Consultation Paper has been opposed by the Hong Kong Bar Association. Under the RDT Scheme, if the test result is positive, under a three-tier system, the person would be subject to counseling and treatment programmes, voluntary for the first time, mandatory for the second time in lieu of prosecution and prosecution for the third time. The Hong Kong Bar believes that the extraordinary and draconian police powers sought to be provided under the RDT Scheme will seriously interfere with fundamental constitutional rights and that it has not been shown to be necessary to address the problem of drug abuse.
CURRENT POSITION
The Current Status
The RESCUE Drug Testing Scheme remains a proposal and has not been enacted or implemented. Its first-stage public consultation concluded in 2014, but no second-stage consultation timetable or legislation followed. Hong Kong therefore has no general RESCUE power allowing law enforcement officers to compel a drug test solely because they reasonably suspect that a person has consumed drugs; any testing power must instead come from a specific legal or consensual regime.