Read the report and watch our movie on the harms of the insane drug legislation in Georgia<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Illicit drug use is considered to be one of the major socials problems in the Republic of Georgia. After visiting the country and attending the national harm reduction conference in October, my impression was that the real problem is the crazy drug policy <\/em>(exported from the US of course) and not drug use itself. The word \u201ccrazy\u201d may seem an overstatement for some people, but I think they don\u2019t know the everyday reality of Georgian drug policy at all. In this country with a population no more than 5 million, the police arrests almost 60.000 people every year for drug offenses \u2013 but without any clear evidence that they even possessed drugs! If somebody looks suspicious or even distasteful for a policeman on the street he can easily find himself in a jail for 8-9 hours, waiting for a drug test that can confirm his innocence. Yes, I say innocence, because 70% of those people arrested for drug use actually tested negative last year. Why is it good for the police? Because they can escort people for 8-9 hours instead of chasing real criminals on the streets, and of course this procedure is a source of governmental funding and corruption for law enforcement agencies. Thousands of marginalized drug users are imprisoned because they were not able to pay the fines, sometimes even their apartment is confiscated. At the same time, treatment programs are underfunded, the clients are often harassed by police and there is no drug coordination system at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n