Clánky seznam - Index of articles

Bushka Bryndova, June 11, 2005

http://www.chanvre-info.ch/info/en/article3174.html

Hungary, the faithful ally of the USA in their fight against the world terrorism has been inspired by its Big Brother equally when it comes to the question of illegal drugs. It wouldn't be surprising then, that the anti-drug legislation introduced in 2003 was bearing such a close resemblance to the methods of US War on Drugs. Following this new law the drug users would be punished for simple drug possession by prison sentence up to two years or could opt for six months of a desintoxication cure instead of it. The Hungarian government is pretending that drug users are not "criminals", but "sick people" in need of a medical treatment. The Constitutional Court declared at the end of the last year that the drug use is inducing the "loss of personal freedom", therefore even the abridgment of personal freedom is allowed in the fight against drugs. In addition, they say, there is only one effective way to prevent the use of illicit substances: criminal prosecution.

In reality this sentence is rarely implemented due to judges who see the unfairness of this penalty; usually arrested users are often charged with high fines, deprived of their freedom for shorter or longer time, subjected to humiliating procedures like urinary tests or referred to forced treatment for smoking marijuana once or twice. During recent weeks police raided several rave parties in different towns of Hungary. Police officers walked in the clubs and investigated all guests with flashlight searching for signs of drug use (e.g. dilated pupils or red eyes) and arrested more than hundred young people who were suspected drug users. Thousands of young people who committed the terrible crime of having smoked marihuana are criminalized - following the Hungarian government statistics there are annually four thousands of arrests, of which 90% are for simple drug possession - marihuana the most often. At the beginning of this year was established a Parliamentary committee that will try to revise the current law and introduce a legislation that would be more in keeping with European tendencies. It was in order to attract the attention of Hungarian general public to this issue, that activists of the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union and of the Hemp Seed Association Kendermag - a drug-reform movement - organized an action of civil disobedience on this spring. At the first look, it could seem like a practical joke, because in reality it was a "civil obedience" action.

The protest action started at the end of March when three activists, escorted by the lawyers of the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union, came to the Budapest Police Headquarter to report about their drug use and asking to be submitted to urinary tests, which would prove it. These braves were followed by several dozens of other activists surrendering with the same request. Among them were some well-respected and well-known Hungarians - like the novelist and literary figure Julia Langh, a 63 years old grand-mother who confessed that she's been using marihuana for more than 40 years without ill effects. Her declaration assured a very extended coverage by Hungarian media that were until then only scarcely informing about this issue. The protesters have since been released and are awaiting formal offers from prosecutors to take six months of drug treatment or choose criminal prosecution. Most activists intend to seek prosecution, organizers said.

The reaction of Hungarian media was very intensive and mostly positive. The surrenders were at the front pages of national newspapers, and most of the rare negative articles were originating from ultra-right wing press. The continuing campaign has also led drug reformers to be invited onto television and radio talk shows and generated a letter of support from more than fifty drug treatment and prevention experts urging the government to accept Hemp Seed's proposal and decriminalize drug use.

"When the police are arresting these people in front of the TV cameras, that shows the irrationality and injustice of the present law. It is also a sort of coming out for the movement", says Peter Sarosi from the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union, which lawyers were accompanying the persons surrendering to the police. The authorities have already informed those who turned themselves to the law enforcement that their confessions and urinary tests were not enough for a criminal prosecution - a declaration that given the situation activists find totally absurd. They say that this is only another example of controversies surrounding this law and it is actually an evidence of illegality of arrests made at rave-parties and in clubs. The objective of the protest was equally to show the public that drug users are not always the dregs of society, as the government is pretending, but that sometimes they are well-respected people with a normal lifestyle.

"We don't believe in forced treatment and medicalization," said Peter Juhasz, spokesman for the Hemp Seed Association Kendermag, organizer of the protest. "If you are a drug user you face criminal prosecution every day - whether you are arrested is only a matter of luck. The government says it does not intend to imprison and criminalize drug users, but this is evidence that is not true. Just because you smoked a joint some weeks ago, you can undergo a very humiliating procedure and the loss of your freedom. Only 1-2% of drug users in Hungary are problem users, and even they do not need imprisonment, only free and effective services to improve their quality of life. We would like to show that we want to live as law-abiding citizens."

Organizers of the protests would wish to reach a certain consensus that drug users should not be punished - in legal terms, that means some form of depenalization, maybe making possession an administrative offense punishable only by civil sanctions if the user causes a public nuisance.