Georgian Constitutional Court Decriminalizes Possession of Marijuana

• 10.27.2015, 12:04
•  Region,  No-politics

Possession of up to 70 grams of marijuana is no longer a crime in Georgia, following a ruling in the Constitutional Court.

The Court on Saturday struck down as unconstitutional a passage in the law that made it punishable by from 7 to 14 years  in jail for buying and possessing small amounts of marijuana.

The Constitutional Court said that the amount of marijuana (up to 70gr), for purchasing and possessing of which the applicant was facing criminal charges and potential imprisonment, does not imply in itself that the person had an intention to sell it. Therefore, the Constitutional Court said, imprisonment as a type of punishment in such cases amounts to "inhuman and cruel treatment that infringes upon human dignity" and is in conflict with the second part of article 17 of the constitution.

The case was filed by Beka Tsikarishvili against the parliament. Tsikarishvili, a young man working at a local non-governmental organization, was detained in 2014 for using marijuana. Groups of young people campaigned in his support and demanded to decriminalize marijuana and soften the government’s policy toward soft drugs