Leader of the Slovakian Simple People and Free Personalities Party, Igor Matovic, poured a box of syringes used for injecting heroin over the head of Martin Poliačik, a fellow MP.
The incident occurred at the autumn opening session of the Bratislava parliament after the media revealed Mr Poliačik’s past heroin use. He admitted, in an interview for the 'Sme' daily paper, taking heroin and methamphetamine that essentially proved to be harmless if used safely.
Matovic in his opposition said “I would like to ask the National Council to let Mr Poliačik take long-term unpaid leave, in order to be able to convince enough drug-addicted children who succumb to the temptation to test their body for apparently quite harmless heroin”.
Poliačik made a serious error in issuing such a statement, adds Matovic: “He is a smart enough guy to realize how influential his words are”. Explaining his concerns, Matovic said he cannot agree with his fellow MP’s explanation that when young people first get into a situation where they need to decide whether to try or refuse heroin, they should think first and foremost about its purity.
In his response, Poliačik said, “Mr. Matovic is obviously incapable of understanding what he reads.”
The MP rejected all the accusations. "I did not mislead anybody and obviously did not promote drug use. It appears that my words have been misinterpreted."
Mr Poliačik went on to say that those who have real problems with drugs should seek professional help – "including Mr Matovic, who has a morbid addiction to attention-seeking, which could also benefit from professional help."
Poliačik denied suggesting drug use, and pointed out that in many countries pure heroin is prescribed to people suffering from severe addiction.
In those countries the concept of freely prescribed heroin is based on low-threshold harm reduction. Countries like Switzerland argue that this helps addicts to move away from a criminal environment, in controlled circumstances, and become reintegrated into society, without taking the risk of injecting contaminated street drugs.
Posted by György Folk
Photo: http://udalosti.noviny.sk/
