'These changes will not make a difference': Lawyer's opinion on toughening of drug policy in Georgia
On toughening drug policy in Georgia
According to lawyer Guram Imnadze, toughening drug policy in Georgia will not only fail to solve the problem of drug addiction but may even exacerbate it.
The Georgian Dream party plans to tighten punishment for actions related to the consumption and trafficking of any narcotic substances, including marijuana. The parliament will review amendments to eight relevant laws.
Guram Imnadze:
Here are several arguments as to why the proposed changes clearly do not address the real problem and, on the contrary, will become yet another tool of control in the hands of the police..
The changes have three main directions::
1) Criminalization of income from illegal drug trafficking. In this regard, not much will change, considering that income derived from illegal drug trafficking has already been considered illegal. That is, the law itself will not change, only the terminology. No new legal or procedural tools will be created for the police.
2) Criminalization of small-scale drug trafficking. In fact, there is a legislative gap here, as the current legislation does not criminalize the sale of drugs in small quantities. But this gap has not created significant problems for the police (otherwise, they would have addressed it long ago). By the way, a major drug policy reform developed by civil society organizations in 2017 also proposed addressing this gap..
3) Forced drug testing. In my opinion, the true aim of these amendments is to introduce stricter street testing than ever before. With the adoption of these amendments, any refusal to undergo forced testing will become punishable.
Drug testing has long been an effective tool of control in the hands of the police. There were years when the police took 50,000–60,000 people to testing centers. More than two-thirds of these people were taken without any grounds, and throughout the process, they were under full police control, subjected to threats and blackmail.
It seems the government plans to reinstate this mechanism in an even harsher form. It is easy to guess which part of our society it will be aimed at (protest-minded youth – JAMnews).
Yes, of course, this problem cannot be ignored. Georgia has been and remains one of the leading countries in terms of drug users, despite all measures. To this day, there is no real statistics on drug overdoses in the country. There has never been a “quick notification mechanism” to inform the public and professionals about the emergence of new dangerous substances in the market. Treatment for drug addiction and rehabilitation remain inaccessible for many people.
Furthermore, today, as in the rest of the world, the methods and forms of drug production, transit, distribution, and consumption are radically changing.
To address this reality, fundamentally new approaches are needed. Prevention and harm reduction are becoming even more important. And it is no longer funny when we are convinced that the police will handle the current drug situation by hauling tens of thousands of citizens to testing (usually, transporting one person takes at least three police officers and at least five to six hours).
So, if anyone is concerned about the country’s drug policy and the future of generations, I must disappoint them: these changes will not make a difference.
