Rally for decriminalising drug possession in Tbilisi in December 2016 (Netgazeti)
A bill to decriminalise possession of all drugs has been put before Georgia’s Parliament by the Parliamentary Health Committee. The bill was developed by Tbilisi-based advocacy group the National Drug Policy Platform, which consists of over 40 NGOs.
The initiative would make changes to ten organic laws, both administrative and criminal, and could also annul Georgia’s law ‘against drug offences’, adopted in 2007, which has been criticised by local rights groups for being too strict.
The core principle of the changes would be to move the country’s drug policy away from a criminal justice approach, treating drug use instead as a public health issue. According to the authors of the bill, current drug policy concentrates on punishing drug-addicts, instead of treating them. If the bill is adopted, distribution and trafficking of drugs would still be treated as a criminal offence.
According to the National Platform, almost 12,000 people were punished for drug-related offences in 2015, while only 5,400 people were given treatment for drug-addiction. According to campaigners, treatment is far more cost-effective than keeping drug-addicts in jail.
A survey of prison statistics in 2015 conducted by the University of Lausanne for the Council of Europe, found that approximately 31% of Georgia’s prison population, around 2,700 people, were convicted of drug offences, more than for any other type of crime.
According to transparency watchdog Waste Detector, who monitor prison costs, in 2015, Georgia spent around ₾31 ($13) per day on each prisoner. They calculated that the government could spend nine times less, ₾3.50 ($1.45) per day, by instead funding methadone replacement therapy, which helps treat people with opioid addictions.
In 2016, the government also carried out 22,400 drug tests, costing the state budget ₾9.4 million ($3.9 million).
Sopo Verdzeuli, head of the Tbilisi-based Human Rights Education and Monitoring Centre (EMC), who co-authored the bill, said on 27 June that they hope it will be a priority for Parliament in the 2017 autumn session.
Earlier in June, Georgia’s Parliament passed a bill in its first hearing to soften criminal penalties surrounding cannabis. The draft law would abolish prison sentences for planting, cultivating, purchasing, storing, and consuming cannabis. However, a final hearing on the law has yet to be held.
Georgian opposition party Lelo has proposed decriminalising drug use, as part of a proposal to reorient the country’s drug policy from a criminal justice approach to a healthcare one.
The proposal was announced at a press briefing by Saba Buadze, the chair of Lelo’s Tbilisi bureau, on Wednesday. He suggested that the ‘drug epidemic’ in the country was caused by the ‘criminal indifference and complicity’ of the Georgian Dream government.
In their nine-step policy, Lelo proposed:
* Decri
Historically, international reports have referred to Georgia as one of the corridors for the transit of Afghan heroin towards Europe. Liberali tried to find out how Georgia is tackling drug trafficking and what has changed since 2012 under the Georgian dream government.
In September 2009, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime published a report on the spread of Afghan heroin around the world.
The report noted that seven tons of heroin reached Europe through Georgia each year. Hero
Georgian drug policy reform advocates have marked the anniversary of police raids on night clubs Bassiani and Café Gallery in the capital Tbilisi.
Recently formed advocacy group 12 May, named after the night of the raids, draped banners over bridges and on public spots in Tbilisi bearing anti-government messages. These included references to the raids, the country’s harsh drug policies, as well as ironic references to their environmental policy, alleged control over the media, and scandals
Georgia’s parliament has adopted a new law restricting cannabis use, five months after the Constitutional Court made consumption of the drug legal. Restrictions allow only those 21 or above to consume the drug and only at home.
The court ruled on 30 July that any punishment for consuming cannabis was unconstitutional.
Under the new law, people will not face even administrative punishments, such as fines, if police discover they have taken cannabis. However, the new regulations adopted by
A bill to decriminalise possession of all drugs has been put before Georgia’s Parliament by the Parliamentary Health Committee. The bill was developed by Tbilisi-based advocacy group the 
