
Georgian Dream announces new legislative amendments tightening drug policy
The changes include longer prison sentences for selling drugs as well as the introduction of penalties for individuals evading drug testing.
The changes include longer prison sentences for selling drugs as well as the introduction of penalties for individuals evading drug testing.
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
Georgia is to withdraw a cannabis cultivation bill after a meeting between senior officials and the head of the Georgian Orthodox Church. The government also said they would discuss ways to legally limit the Constitutional Court’s rulings on drug policy. Far-right group Georgian March congratulated its followers for ‘making officials withdraw the bill’. On 2 October, Chair of Parliament Irakli Kobakhidze and Interior Minister Giorgi Gakharia held a meeting with Church head Patriarch Ilia
A new bill on cannabis has been introduced to parliament by Georgia’s Interior Ministry which would fully legalise consumption at home while still imposing fines for the purchase and possession of the drug. The draft law, which came in response to a Constitutional Court ruling legalising cannabis use, has faced criticism from both conservatives and rights groups. The bill, published on Monday, would maintain penalties for public use of cannabis allowing cannabis use only at home those ov