A TV host and actor were found guilty of ‘illegally purchasing and holding an especially large amount’ of the recreational psychoactive drug, MDMA, by the Tbilisi City Court on 23 March.
The court sentenced Levan Rostoshvili, former host of Rustavi2’s ‘Nanuka’s Show’, an entertainment programme, and actor Lasha Kurtanidze to eight and five years in prison respectively. The court’s decision can be appealed to the Court of Appeals.
Georgia’s drug policy has recently been under fire from human rights and civil society groups in the country. After Georgia’s top court, the Constitutional Court, ruled in 2016 that imprisonment is too harsh a punishment for cannabis use, rights organisations expected a complete overhaul of drugs laws.
However, the government does not appear to be softening its long-criticised policy. A bill developed by the Ministry of Justice only envisions dropping imprisonment for the use of marijuana, which was already guaranteed by the Constitutional Court’s ruling.
According to research conducted for the Council of Europe, drug offences were the number one reason for which prisoners were sentenced in 2015, accounting for roughly every third prisoner (2,700 people) in Georgia’s jails.
In addition to detaining individuals for possessing even small amounts of drugs, there have been several claims that the police plant drugs on people connected to opposition figures. Last week the Georgian President’s daughter, Ana Margvelashvili, said that her close friend Mikheil Tatarashvili was detained on 17 March for ‘having 18 pills of subutex’ an opioid medication. She claims that the evidence of drug possession was fabricated by the police. She claims his detention was connected to her father’s reluctance to cooperate with the ruling Georgian Dream party.
The sons of Eliso Kiladze, a journalist reportedly connected to the opposition United National Movement (UNM) party, and UNM member Khatia Dekanoidze, were detained on 16 March on charges of drug possession. The journalist and politician also claim that evidence was fabricated in their sons’ cases as well.
Interior Minister Giorgi Mghebrishvili responded to the accusations on 20 March, claiming that ‘nobody plants anything on anyone’ . ‘The facts are real’, he added.
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 TV host and actor were found guilty of ‘illegally purchasing and holding an especially large amount’ of the recreational psychoactive drug, MDMA, by the Tbilisi City Court on 23 March. 
