• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • About Us
  • Drug Policy and Law
  • Harm Reduction
  • Activism
  • Video Database
  • EN
    • HU
    • RU

Former Polish President and other prominent figures call for drug liberalization in Poland

December 17, 2010 | Author: Kardos Tamás

Tweet

Criminalisation of drug possession does not help to decrease illicit drug consumption. Instead, it distracts the attention and energy of the police from the real originators of the problem: mass producers and major and minor drug dealers – write the signatories of the letter of support, including former Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski, for liberalizing drug policy in Poland.

Signatories of the open letter urge the government to advance proceedings on amendments to the drug policy bill that has now reached the parliament. If accepted, a prosecutor would be entitled to discontinue legal proceedings against a person suspected of possessing a minor quantity of an illicit substance for personal use provided that the social harm of the deed is insignificant or the punishment would prove futile.

“Apart from advancing work on the bill, we expect a table of data stating what exactly is meant by minor quantities for each enlisted substance to be added as an annex to the bill,”says Karolina Walęcik of Krytyka Polityczna, the organization which initiated the letter. “Such a solution is a small step which will help focus the efforts of enforcement agencies and the judiciary on real criminals that are drug dealers and traffickers, not on occasional users.”

In September a proposal of what limits could be defined for each illicit substance was announced by the Polish Drug Policy Network, an organization advocating rational drug policy in Poland which brings together experts, therapists and drug users, amongst others.

“The amendment we care about was introduced to the parliament in September but until now the bill hasn't even had its first reading.” says Marek Balicki, a member of Parliament and former minister of health. “The current restrictive law has been binding in Poland for ten years and now it clearly shows that the goals it established have not been met. The time has come to verify those goals.”

Article 62.1 of the current drug law states that possession of any amount of an illicit drug is subject to imprisonment for up to three years. Even though the originators of the bill claim that the law was targeted at drug dealers, statistics show that after the law was introduced the number of arrested and tried dealers has not risen. In the majority of cases, those arrested were occasional users, possessing minimal quantities of marijuana, often less than one gram. According to the Polish think tank the Institute of Public Affairs, the execution of article 62.1 costs the state budget about 80 million Polish Zloty (ca. 20 million Euro) a year at a cost of over 2,500 Zloty (ca. 600 Euro) for each arrested offender. Moreover, the study shows that half of the policemen interviewed admit that the current law is conducive to abuse and is in fact abused. Instead of going after drug dealers and retailers, law enforcement officials choose the much easier option of focusing on people who possess  minor amounts of illicit substances, which is an easy way to augment statistics.

In addition, the proposed amendment includes provisions for drug dependence treatment. Experts admit that access to substitution treatment in Poland is still extremely limited. Lack of access to such treatment in the north of the country was subject to criticism by Anand Grover, UN Special Rapporteur for Health.

Experts say that current Polish drug law is costly, infringes human rights and proves unconstitutional as it does not fulfill the constitutional criterion of proportion of punishment to the unlawful act.

List of signatories

  • Paweł Althamer – critical artist
  • Dr Marek Balicki – psychiatrist, former polish Minister of Health
  • Prof. Zygmunt Bauman – sociologist
  • Edwin Bendyk – journalist, expert on modern capitalism, public intellectual
  • Prof. Agata Bielik-Robson – philosopher, Polish Academy of Science
  • Halina Bortnowska – human rights activist, publisher
  • Izabela Cywińska – film director, former Minister of Culture
  • Artur Domosławski – journalist, writer
  • Dr Kinga Dunin – sociologist, publicist, writer
  • Janusz Głowacki – writer
  • Dr Agnieszka Graff – literature critic, feminist publicist, Warsaw University
  • Manuela Gretkowska – writer
  • Prof. Jan Tomasz Gross – sociologist, historian, Princeton University
  • Prof. Irena Grudzińska-Gross – literary historian, Princeton University
  • Agnieszka Holland – film director
  • Olga „Kora“ Jackowska – singer, songwriter
  • Prof. Maria Janion – literary historian, Polish Academy of Science
  • Prof. Małgorzata Kowalska – philosopher, Białystok University
  • Dr Sergiusz Kowalski – sociologist
  • Prof. Krzysztof Krajewski – legal expert
  • Joanna Kos-Krauze – film director
  • Krzysztof Krauze – film director
  • Roman Kurkiewicz – journalist
  • Aleksander Kwaśniewski – former President of Poland
  • Borys Lankosz – film director
  • Magdalena Łazarkiewicz – film director
  • Piotr Najsztub – journalist
  • Dr Wojciech Olejniczak – former Minister of Agriculture
  • Prof. Wiktor Osiatyński – legal expert, human rights activist
  • Joanna Rajkowska – critical artist
  • Anda Rottenberg – critic of arts
  • Kamil Sipowicz – poet, philosopher
  • Prof. Paweł Śpiewak – sociologist, Warsaw University
  • Prof. Magdalena Środa – philosopher, Warsaw University
  • Kazimiera Szczuka – literary critic, journalist
  • Małgorzata Szumowska – film director
  • Olga Tokarczuk – writer
  • Dr Ewa Woydyłło – psychologist 
  • Jacek Żakowski – publicist

14 December 2010,  Warsaw
Source: Krytyka Polityczna

Filed Under: Articles Topics: Criminalisation, Drug Policy and Law, European Drug Policy

Access to this article is free - but to produce articles and videos is not. Drugreporter is a non-profit website that needs your support to provide you with high quality ontents.

Become a supporter and make a donation of 5 $ today!

Primary Sidebar

SUPPORT US!
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

DRUGREPORTER CAFÉ

In our new online video show, we regularly discuss new developments in the world of drug policy with professionals, activists and decision makers. You can also listen to the Drugreporter Café in Podcast format on Spotify or Apple Podcasts!

COVID-19 HARM REDUCTION UPDATE

On this info page Drugreporter provides regular updates about resources and news on how harm reduction service providers respond to the COVID-19 Epidemic.

Email Newsletter

Sign up for regular email updates!

Browse our video database!

Hundreds of videos on drug policy, harm reduction and human rights for streaming and download, also on a world map!

Drugreporter Video Advocacy Network

Browse videos produced by members of our Drugreporter Video Advocacy Network, from all around the world!

KOSTYA PROLETARSKY – The Animation

An animated documentary movie based on the original audio recording of Kostya Proletarsky, a drug user and HIV activist who died as a result of mistreatment and torture at a Russian prison. Animation and design by Lili Rontó. Directed and Edited by István Gábor Takács. Narrated by Anya Sarang. Festival appearances, news and resources are available here!

Drug Users News

Russian language videos on drug policy, harm reduction and human rights.

Browse our topics here!

Activism Count the Costs COVID-19 Criminalisation Dose of Science Drug Consumption Rooms Drug Policy and Law Drugreporter Café European Drug Policy Harm Reduction Hepatitis HIV/AIDS Interviews Just Say Know Video Series Lessons for Drug Policy Series Marijuana Policies Medical Marijuana Needle and syringe programs New Psychoactive Substances Opiate Substitution Overdose Prevention Psychedelic Medicines Regulation and Control Russian Drug Policy Sex Work TAKING BACK WHAT'S OURS! Documentary Series The Andrey Rylkov Foundation UN Drug policy US Drug Policy

Footer

Rights Reporter Foundation 2017
Hungary, 1032 Budapest
San Marco Street 70.
Email: rightsreporter@rightsreporter.net

Our other websites:

The Rights Reporter Foundation

The Autocracy Analyst

Room for Change Campaign

Room in the 8th District Campaign

A Day in the Life movie website

Drugreporter