Drug policy reform is possible in countries with conservative public attitudes and repressive policies…
A few years ago the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union (HCLU) launched a new project, the European Drug Policy Initiative (EDPI), to help NGOs improve their advocacy efforts to reform drug policies. As one of the first steps, in 2008 we conducted a public poll survey among the general population of six European countries to assess the views of people on various issues related to drug policy. The results showed that Polish people have the most conservative and restrictive views on drug policy in Europe. For example, the majority of Polish respondents (59 percent) favored a “war on cannabis” while the vast majority of respondents (76 percent) favored decriminalization or legalization in the Netherlands. The actual legislation also mirrors public opinion: Poland has one of the most punitive drug policies in the European Union. Every year, tens of thousands of young people are criminalized for the simple possession of illicit drugs. Because of these facts, we did not expect there to be any serious prospects of drug policy reform in this country. And yet the unexpected came true this year …
One of the most successful partners we have been working with is the Polish Drug Policy Network: an umbrella organization promoting an evidence-based, public health oriented drug policy in Poland. The PDPN led a very successful public advocacy campaign to amend the drug law and give prosecutors the choice not to criminalize small scale drug offenders. In collaboration with the PDPN, we produced one longer movie to support the reform campaign. Our Polish colleagues created a campaign page on Facebook (Apel do Parlamentarzystów) that has more than 62.000 fans. The government supported the initiative and both the lower and the upper chambers of the Polish parliament (the Seim and the Senate) approved the amendment. There was still another step for the law to come into effect: to be signed by Bronislaw Komorowski, the president of the Polish Republic. The PDPN launched an online sign on campaign targeting both Polish and international audiences to put pressure on Mr. Komorowski – who finally relented and signed the bill on Wednesday, May 25. Success!
If you compare the new Polish drug legislation to most Western-European countries, it would still not be considered progressive. Most comments from Polish drug users were quite skeptical about the reform as well. However, this is a huge step forward if it can prevent young people from going to jail, if it can save tax payers money from being spent on pointless criminal prosecutions, and if it can convince the public that criminalization is not the way to deal with young people who use drugs. Furthermore, the Polish drug policy reform has an international significance in that it proves that such policy reforms are possible even in countries with conservative public attitudes and repressive drug policies.
