A LEGAL PRODUCT?

The Georgian parliament has begun examining a draft law on the decriminalisation of marijuana. Experts believe that the parliament is highly likely to ratify this document, and Georgia, which is adjacent to Azerbaijan, will become the first of the former Soviet republics to abolish criminal liability for the possession and consumption of marijuana. On 2 June rallies in support of the decriminalisation of marijuana were held in Tbilisi, Kutaisi, Batumi, Zugdidi and Bolnisi. The participants in the rallies demanded the abolition of prison sentences for consumption of marijuana and an end to the practice of compulsory checks for narcotics.

The author of this bill, parliamentary deputy, and former governor of the Samtskhe-Javakheti region and ex-minister of the environment of Georgia Giorgi KHACHIDZE told Regionplus what results are expected from the decriminalisation of marijuana.

-What is the essence of this draft law and what positive results are you expecting its ratification to yield?

-The draft law on the decriminalisation of marijuana in Georgia envisages the abolition of criminal liability and a downgrading of fines for consumption of marijuana. This is, as they say, a softly, softly approach in the direction of the general world legal trend towards decriminalising marijuana and hashish. Criminal liability for possession and consumption of marijuana and cannabis is abolished, but not for the production of these narcotic substances. The relevant amendments should be made to Article 273 of Georgia's Criminal Code.

The proposal that repeated consumption or possession of up to five grams of marijuana should be a crime not punishable by law, but should be considered an administrative infringement incurring a fine of from 50 to 218 dollars, is the most important element in the draft law. It is especially noteworthy here that decriminalisation and legalisation are quite different things. Legalisation would mean that narcotics could be produced, sales outlets would be specified and so forth.

It is stupid to put people in prison for smoking marijuana or cannabis in the 21st century. In the 1990s, after thorough research, scientists proved that smoking marijuana does not make people go on to use harder drugs like heroin, cocaine and so forth. There is no connection here. It is inherent in people to consume psychotropic substances.

Since marijuana is more accessible, the conviction has emerged that this narcotic substance is like some sort of springboard triggering the use of harder drugs. We will not mention that nicotine and alcohol are more harmful that marijuana. Plenty has been written about this. In this case, the repressive measures taken by the state are not well-founded and are not producing any kind of good results. A drunk person is perfectly capable of walking down the street and going into a caf?, but nothing happens to him as a result. But for smoking a less potent and more short-lasting "joint" or "spliff" he can go to prison.

-  In actual fact, according to world statistics, most of those who have served  prison sentences for smoking marijuana have become consumers of extremely dangerous injected drugs while they were in prison. How many people in Georgia have been given prison sentences for smoking marijuana and cannabis?   

According to the statistics, approximately 27,000 smokers of marijuana, hashish, cannabis and so forth are caught in Georgia every year. This number is growing from year to year, but this does not mean that they all end up in prison. First-time offenders have to pay a fine of 500 lari, which is approximately 218 dollars, while they are subject to criminal liability for a second offence. The draft law which has been submitted to parliament does not envisage prison sentences, but administrative liability. 

- According to the statements of some experts from the United Nations and other international organisation, in the next year or two most countries in Europe and North America will decriminalise or legalise marijuana…

-  People are not given prison sentences for consuming narcotics in hardly any European countries. Various fines are enforced there. Imprisoning drug users does not have any positive impact. There are no statistics testifying to the enforcement of harsh, repressive measures. Let's say, a person is put in prison for using narcotics, will he stop consuming them when he comes out of prison? Absolutely not. Other mechanisms need to be used here. Every year Georgia spends 18m lari (roughly 8m dollars) on keeping people in prison who have received sentences. This money could be used more effectively.

- What do you think about legalising marijuana in Georgia?

- Legalisation is one of the methods of preventing drug abuse. But in this case, Georgia needs decriminalisation more, i.e. not handing out prison sentences for smoking marijuana. Recently, the Georgian TV channel "Rustavi-2" did a survey to find out what people thought about the draft law that I have proposed. Thirty per cent of the respondents were opposed to decriminalisation, while 70 per cent supported the abolition of criminal liability. There is a consensus among representatives of public organisations, narcotics experts and others regarding the proposal that "there should no longer be prison sentences for consuming marijuana". We shall soon learn what the deputies think about it. In this day and age, it simply does not make sense to put people in prison for smoking marijuana.

 - There is said to be a world-wide lobby which is fighting to keep marijuana outlawed. This would mean that the price of this illegal substance would remain high.

- Yes. It all began in the USA back at the beginning of the 1920's. The American government outlawed alcohol and at the same time hashish and marijuana. They considered alcohol to be a more illegal substance than marijuana. Then the fight against marijuana in Europe started, where the attitude to this substance was rather liberal. In the 1930s, the USA lifted the "prohibition on alcohol", but forgot to decriminalise marijuana. At the present time, a reverse process is under way throughout the world.