Drugs legalized in Georgia

Drugs legalized in Georgia

On the last day of 2016, Zurab Japaridze, leader of the New Political Center Girchi party, led a campaign to support the idea of marijuana legalization.

The softening of the legislation on drug use is one of the campaign promises of this politician.

In particular, Zurab Japaridze planted hemp seeds in front of the cameras in the presence of people who support his position.

The mentioned party, headed by Zurab Japaridze, provided its office in the capital of Georgia to house 77 pots containing marijuana seeds from different parts of the country. It should be noted that not only cannabis is supported by this party, the followers of Zurab Japaridze advocate the decriminalization of all types of drugs.

In Georgia, the use of drugs, in particular marijuana, is prohibited. Zurab Japaridze does not call for the distribution of drugs or their more active use, but argues that the prohibition to dispose of one's own body for a person violates his rights.

According to Japaridze, all the participants in the civil disobedience rally quite deliberately publicly violated the criminal code of the country in which they live. All of them realized that in the future a lawsuit was possible, the participants of which would be Zurab Japaridze himself and two dozen supporters of the idea of drug legalization, who supported the action.

The government has three options for a possible reaction - to ignore the action, to punish its participants, or still introduce the amendments proposed by this political force into the legislative acts.

Georgia, with a population of about 4 million, has announced its move to the European Union, but at the same time continues its repressive policy against people who use drugs. Unauthorized use of any kind of drugs is punishable in Georgia by imprisonment for up to 14 years.

Every day, Georgian policemen test 112 people for drug use, a third of them show signs of using illegal drugs or smoking marijuana.

Members of the White Noise movement, which unites 40 organizations, advocate for the humanization of attitudes towards drug users. They propose three amendments - regarding the decriminalization of the use of small portions of drugs, the definition at the legislative level of dosages of permitted use and the abolition of compulsory tests.

Georgia's law enforcement agencies reported an investigation related to the events described, and the parliament adopted the proposed amendments.