2024-07-18 03:20:31
On Wednesday, after a meeting with the President Edgars Rinkēvičas, Siliņa noted to journalists that she had previously made such a request to the Anti-Narcotics Council, which is headed by the Ministry of Health (MoH), when she was the Minister of Welfare. And the Ministry of Justice has already accepted a proposal developed by the Ministry of Justice, which provides that young people would no longer be criminally punished for drug use.
As previously stated by the Ministry of Interior, the Drug Control and Narcotics Control Coordination Council has supported the Ministry of Justice’s proposal on the release of minors from criminal liability for the use of narcotic and psychotropic substances. The Ministry of Interior will forward it together with other proposals for consideration by the Saeima commission in the fall.
The prime minister has discussed with the responsible ministers, and they support such an initiative, said Silina.
“Everyone understands how dangerous it is that young people do not report to the emergency services for fear of criminal responsibility or if friends hide the fact of drug use, so we can lose young people,” said the Prime Minister, emphasizing that this does not apply to drug keepers, organizers, criminal authorities – they are entitled to criminal responsibility and appropriate punishment.
Siliņa wants the Children’s Affairs Cooperation Council to also get involved in solving the mentioned issues, because young people need rehabilitation services.
“For such young people, drug use is often not fun, they often do it because they come from socially disadvantaged families, they are often in care institutions,” said the Prime Minister, emphasizing that the initiative is on the agenda.
Silina expressed hope that it will be possible to explain to the public why it is necessary to decriminalize drug use among young people. “It’s not about removing the risks of drugs, on the contrary – we want to help young people who do their own stupid things by giving them a chance, instead of putting them in a punishment institution,” emphasized the Prime Minister.
The President agrees and supports that criminal liability should not apply to young people who use drugs. However, those who organize drug trade, sell and are responsible for the fact that young people receive them, criminal penalties should be preserved, Rinkēvičs believes.
In the opinion of the President, young people are not widely informed about the Criminal Law, and the announcement of the Ministry of Interior that exemptions from criminal liability already exist is not known to young people.
“The message that if you use, you have problems, call the doctors, you won’t get anything about it – is the right direction,” said Rinkēvičs, while emphasizing that we need to work on explaining the scourge of drugs to young people.
As reported, the Association of Latvian Doctors (LAB) and the “Open creative center” working with at-risk youth are calling for the decriminalization of illegal drug use in Latvia, as they believe that this could open up greater opportunities for prevention measures against drug use.
As LĀB public relations consultant Dagnija Dižbite-Svarinska informed the LETA agency, LĀB and “Open” have appealed to the President Edgars Rinkēvičs, the Speaker of the Saeima Daigas Mieriņa (ZZS) and a number of ministers, calling for the decriminalization of drug use in Latvia.
The statement issued by the organizations stated that in this way Latvia would follow the example of the countries that have joined the call of the United Nations (UN) and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime to take such a step. From the point of view of the organizations, this would open up more opportunities for prevention measures against drug use, as addicted persons could more safely talk about their problems, as well as “reduce the stigma in society against this population group, because drug addiction is a disease.”
LĀB president Ilze Aizsilniece thinks that such a step would allow to identify the problem faster and more effectively, so that young people are not afraid to talk about it and seek help. “The statistics are scary, so it is the last moment to follow the example of other countries and decriminalize the use of illegal drugs so that people are not afraid to ask for help,” thinks Aizsilniece.
In the existing legislation in Latvia, criminal responsibility for drug use remains, which creates “very big problems in order to openly carry out prevention work to reduce drug use”. It is particularly difficult to provide the necessary emergency help and treatment in case of drug overdose, according to the organizations.
Also, for fear of criminal liability, cases of overdose are not reported to the emergency medical service in time. Sometimes, after successful resuscitation, the victims try to run away from the medical personnel, thus getting additional injuries, organizations have observed.
2024-07-18 03:20:31