Prime Minister Evika Silina supports a plan to decriminalize drug use among young people.
On Wednesday, after a meeting with President Rinkēvičs, Silina told journalists that when she was the Minister of Welfare, she had already made a similar request to the Council for Combating Drugs, which is headed by the Ministry of Health. And the Ministry of Health has already accepted the proposal developed by the Ministry of Justice, which stipulates that young people will no longer be subject to criminal punishment for drug use.
The Prime Minister held talks with responsible ministers who also support such an initiative.
«Everyone understands how dangerous it is that young people do not contact emergency services because of fear of criminal liability or if friends hide the fact of drug use, thus we can lose young people“,” the Prime Minister said, emphasizing that this does not apply to drug dealers, organizers, and criminal authorities – they will be held criminally liable and will be punished accordingly.
Silina wants the Children’s Cooperation Council to also get involved in resolving the aforementioned issues, as young people need rehabilitation services.
«For these young people, drug use is often not a pleasure, they often do it because they are from socially disadvantaged families, often in boarding schools“,” the Prime Minister said, stressing 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 eliminating the risks associated with drugs, on the contrary – we want to help young people who do their stupid things by giving them a chance, not by putting them in a correctional institution“, the Prime Minister emphasized.
The President agrees and supports that criminal liability should not be extended to young people who use drugs. However, criminal punishment should be retained for those who organize drug trafficking, sell them and are responsible for ensuring that young people receive them, Rinkēvičs believes.
«The message that if you use, you have problems, call the doctors, you won’t get anything – this is the right direction“,” Rinkēvičs said, while also emphasizing that it is necessary to work on explaining the harm of drugs to young people.
The Latvian Doctors’ Association and the Open Creative Centre, which works with at-risk youth, are calling for the decriminalisation of illegal drug use in Latvia, as they believe this could open up great opportunities for preventive measures against drug use.
The statement by the organizations says that Latvia will thus follow the example of countries that have joined the call by the 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 preventive measures against drug use, since drug addicts would be able to talk about their problems more safely.
President of the Society of Physicians Ilse Eissilniece believes that such a step will allow the problem to be identified more quickly and effectively, so that young people are not afraid to talk about it and seek help.
«The statistics are frightening, so now 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“, Aizsilniece believes.
Current Latvian legislation retains criminal liability for drug use, which creates “very big problems for openly conducting preventive work to reduce drug use.” According to the organizations, it is especially difficult to provide the necessary emergency assistance and treatment in the event of a drug overdose.
Also, due to fear of criminal liability, cases of overdose are not reported to the emergency medical service in a timely manner. Sometimes, after successful resuscitation, victims try to escape from medical personnel, thus receiving additional injuries, the organizations note.
Source: www.gorod.lv
