How marijuana was “legalized” in Georgia for two years

On July 30, 2018, the media reported on the decriminalization of marijuana in Georgia. Once again, because over the past two years, such news agency headlines have been issued twice more. However, now they were as close to the truth as possible. Cannabis, or rather its consumption, has indeed been decriminalized in Georgia. Storage and even more so the cultivation of bushes is still prohibited. For this, Georgian law enforcement agencies can still be held administratively or criminally liable. What the media wrote about at the end of 2016 and November 2017 can hardly be attributed to the “legalization of cannabis”, but can be considered steps towards it.

What was the first and second “wave” of cannabis decriminalization in Georgia about

On December 24, 2016, only very lazy media did not write about the fact that cannabis was legalized in Georgia. Naturally, nothing of the kind happened there, although a step towards decriminalization was made. The Constitutional Court of Georgia has canceled the prison sentence for repeated consumption of cannabis (the first time was fined) and possession of up to 70 g of the substance for one's own needs. The person received a criminal record, but was not sent to “places not so remote”.

Another wave of high-profile headlines about the legalization of cannabis in Georgia swept on November 30, 2017. The reason for it again was the decision of the Constitutional Court - this time it decriminalized the repeated use of marijuana. That is, smoking and possession of up to 5 g of dried and 10 g of fresh hemp became administrative liability with a fine of $ 200. And finally, in July 2018, the punishment for drinking was completely removed in Georgia.

So is it now legal to use cannabis in Georgia?

Yes and no. If in Georgia you were fraternally treated to a joint, then in the presence of a law enforcement officer it is better to smoke it out than to hide it. However, the decriminalization of cannabis consumption took place at the suggestion of the Constitutional Court - the corresponding amendments to the legislation were never made. This means that the use of cannabis is not punishable at the level of the courts, but under the law it is still a crime.

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