amendment to the 1988 Drug Trafficking Suppression Act is passed next month.

Social Services Minister the Hon. Quinton Edness said the Act, which already allows the courts to seize the ill-gotten gains of convicted drug dealers, needed strengthening.

The amendment, which Mr. Edness tabled in the House of Assembly on Friday, will allow the court to freeze the assets when the person is charged and confiscate them if he or she is convicted.

The change was recommended in the National Drug Strategy.

"The Act as it was drafted could not restrain assets,'' he said. "And by the time the court trial took place a year later or a year and a half later, if there is an appeal, all the assets could have disappeared.

"History is that persons who have gained a lot of wealth as a result of drug trafficking, if found guilty, have often had these assets transferred to someone else, served their time, and then came out and enjoyed them. Society feels this should not happen.'' But he said the amendment makes it clear that the court must be satisfied the defendant has proceeds from drug trafficking.

He said the proposed change should take out what is perceived to be the glamour of drug trafficking.

"It is an important element of fighting the people with all kinds of financial power within drug trafficking,'' he said. "And it is an important element in discouraging people from getting hooked up in the drug trade.'' The bill may be debated on July 3.