Section 62Sec./Art. 62

Compulsory Submission of a Drug Dependent Charged with an Offense to Treatment and Rehabilitation. If a person charged with an offense where the imposable penalty is imprisonment of less than six (6) years and one (1) day, and is found by the prosecutor or by the court, at any stage of the proceedings, to be a drug dependent, the prosecutor or the court as the case may be, shall suspend all further proceedings and transmit copies of the record of the case to the Board.

In the event he Board determines, after medical examination, that public interest requires that such drug dependent be committed to a center for treatment and rehabilitation, it shall file a petition for his/her commitment with the regional trial court of the province or city where he/she is being investigated or tried: Provided, That where a criminal case is pending in court, such petition shall be filed in the said court. The court shall take judicial notice of the prior proceedings in the case and shall proceed to hear the petition. If the court finds him to be a drug dependent, it shall order his/her commitment to a Center for treatment and rehabilitation. The head of said Center shall submit to the court every four (4) months, or as often as the court may require, a written report on the progress of the treatment.

If the dependent is rehabilitated, as certified by the center and the Board, he/she shall be returned to the court, which committed him, for his/her discharge therefrom.

Thereafter, his/her prosecution for any offense punishable by law shall be instituted or shall continue, as the case may be. In case of conviction, the judgment shall, if the accused is certified by the treatment and rehabilitation center to have maintained good behavior, indicate that he/she shall be given full credit for the period he/she was confined in the Center: Provided, however, That when the offense is for violation of Section 15 of this Act and the accused is not a recidivist, the penalty thereof shall be deemed to have been served in the Center upon his/her release therefrom after certification by the Center and the Board that he/she is rehabilitated.