MA HING v. THE QUEEN
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CACC000838/1969
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF HONG KONG
Appellate Jurisdiction
CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. 838 OF 1969
| BETWEEN | ||
| MA HING | Appellant | |
| AND | ||
| THE QUEEN | Respondent |
Coram: Rigby, C.J.
Date of Judgment: 2 February 1970
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JUDGMENT
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1. The appellant pleaded guilty to the charge preferred against him of possession of dangerous drugs. The drugs were found upon him whilst he was a prisoner in the Victoria Reception Centre. He was already serving a sentence of four months' imprisonment, and the learned magistrate imposed a sentence of a further eight months' imprisonment.
2. There can be no grounds whatsoever for interfering with the sentence, but I think it desirable to refer to what the appellant has told me here in this court.
3. He said that he contracted tuberculosis in 1954 and he then took opium to obtain relief. Since opium did not give him sufficient relief he turned to heroin. He told me that he applied to go to Shek Kwu Chau for treatment to try and help him to be relieved of his addiction. That application, he said, was in fact refused because he was suffering from tuberculosis.
4. It is common knowledge that persons who are suffering from active tuberculosis will not be accepted by the Society for Aid and Rehabilitation of Drug Addicts, generally known as S.A.R.D.A. The position is, therefore, a thoroughly vicious circle. One knows that persons who are suffering from tuberculosis turn to dangerous drugs to try and relieve them from their suffering, yet when they wish to rehabilitate they are prevented from doing so by reason of the very fact that they are suffering from tuberculosis. One can only hope that at some stage something may be done to put right this thoroughly unsatisfactory position.