Girchi opposition submits bill to parliament requesting decriminalisation of marijuana purchase, possession

Libertarian opposition political party Girchi has submitted a bill to the Georgian parliament requesting the decriminalisation of the purchase and possession of marijuana. 

Girchi MP Iago Khvichia states that people should not be prosecuted for the purchase and possession of marijuana when the consumption of it is legal per a 2018 ruling of the country’s Constitutional Court. 

Marijuana use became decriminalised in 2015 in Georgia.

[Despite the legalisation of marijuana use] the persecution of people in the country still continues. We received information from the Ministry of Justice that 311 people are on probation and 84 people are being punished for consuming, buying and storing cannabis and its products,” Khvichia said. 

• Administrative punishment for marijuana consumption abolished

The Girchi bill proposes issues related to cannabis and marijuana and its products to be regulated by administrative law instead of criminal law. 

If the bill is passed, no one will be imprisoned now or in the future for cannabis,” Khvichia noted. 

The court also banned imprisonment for repeated use of up to 70 gr marijuana in September 2016. 

However, the cultivation and sale of cannabis remains a criminal offence.