Section 27 of the Act of 1977 is amended -

(a) in subsection (3A) -

(i) by the substitution of "an offence under section 15A or 15B of this Act" for "an offence under section 15A", and

(ii) by the substitution of the following paragraph for paragraph (a):

"(a) to imprisonment for life or such shorter period as the court may determine, subject to subsections (3B) to (3CC) of this section or, where subsection (3CCCC) of this section applies, to that subsection, and",

(b) by the insertion of the following subsection after subsection (3A):

"(3AA)

The court, in imposing sentence on a person for an offence under section 15A or 15B of this Act, may, in particular, have regard to whether the person has a previous conviction for a drug trafficking offence.",

(c) in subsection (3B), by the substitution of "an offence under section 15A or 15B of this Act" for "an offence under section 15A",

(d) by the insertion of the following subsections after subsection (3C):

"(3CC)

The court, in considering for the purposes of subsection (3C) of this section whether a sentence of not less than 10 years imprisonment is unjust in all the circumstances, may have regard, in particular, to -