The drug bill will not change

The bill that - for the first time in Greece - provides for the decriminalization of drug use for users is ready. Early next week, Justice Minister Miltiadis Papaioannou will present the new regulations in the cabinet and will then submit them for ratification.

The bill was completed without major changes in provisions, which for some are essentially the first major step towards the full legalization of drugs in Greece along the lines of the Netherlands, causing the reaction of opposition parties and other state agents.

In an interview in "Proto Thema" however, Papaioannou had pledged that Greece will not become like the Netherlands and that the new arrangements are aimed only at a more humane and more lenient treatment of drug users in both society and justice.
 
What will the bill provide for

The bill provides for the full decriminalization of drug use for users, but will retain the supply and possession of drugs, as well as the cultivation of cannabis, as offenses.

However, these offenses will be considered misdemeanors if they are justified as being for the exclusive use of the user. Concerning the important issue of the diagnosis of dependence so that the user is dealt with in a more lenient manner, the bill "establishes a more comprehensive system of evidence".

More specifically, apart from the expert's report, courts will take into account other evidence as well, including documents relating to monitoring or therapeutic counseling programs, findings of laboratory tests, or a medical history of diseases associated with drug use.

Moreover, the bill guarantees the right to full treatment, i.e. detoxification, of every addicted offender, whether for crimes of the Narcotics Act (other than very serious trafficking offenses) or for other crimes allegedly committed to facilitate drug usage (except crimes of murder, rape, aggravated robbery etc).

The user will be entered into an approved drug treatment program, subjected to a physical rehab program and made to follow a counseling program of psychological rehabilitation inside prison.

Trafficking is a felony

Drug trafficking is considered a serious crime, punishable at the degree of felony. But new criteria will be provided for distinguishing lighter, heavier, and more serious cases of trafficking, with a corresponding escalation of penalties in order to:

a) Provide a fairer treatment of minor traffickers, especially of addicts, similar to the measure of the demerits of their crime, the circumstances under which it took place and their status as addicts or not.

b) Avoid phenomena of imposition of disproportionately strict or disproportionately lenient penalties for the same acts.

c) Keep traffickers that are facing very heavy trafficking offences away from avoiding the threat of the most serious penalty (life imprisonment).