BUDAPEST 13 December 2004 – The Constitutional Court of Hungary in a 7 to 2 vote rejected the proposals claiming that drug laws that punish possession of drugs for personal use are unconstitutional. The Court accepted another proposals’ argumentation against certain forms of diversion treatment. According to the resolution, nobody has a right to be high, therefore criminal prosecution against drug users is not unconstitutional.
Drug Policy and Law
Drug laws in most countries of the world follow the principle defined by the three international drug conventions (1961, 1971, 1988), that is, they prohibit the non-medical and non-scientific use of some mind altering drugs. This principle is not only outdated but it has become anachronistic: the reality is that millions of people use mind altering substances for recreational purposes and most of them do not experience significant harms from drug use. What is more, many harms people do experience are directly connected to the war on drugs, which created a lucrative black market that only benefits criminal organisations. A drug-free world is an illusion, drug policies should be aimed at reducing the harms of drug use and drug policies instead. We believe that drug use should not be punished and drugs should be regulated as legal products, adjusted to the specific characteristics and risks of those drugs.
