KEFiM: Greece should revise laws on soft drugs

Greece should revise its legal framework to either minimise penalties or fully decriminalize soft drugs to reduce the burden on the judicial and prison system, among other benefits, according to a study by the Center for Liberal Studies (KEFiM), in collaboration with the European network Epicenter. 

The study, authored by Christos Mantas, Professor of Social Sciences at the Labour Market University of Leicester and Lecturer at Metropolitan College, and Constantinos Saravakos, Research Project Coordinator at the KEFiM, notes that there is no clear distinction between soft and hard drugs in Greece. 

More than one in five prisoners in the country is in custody for drug-related offences, while only 5.5% of all cases are classified as related to significant drug seizures, and about 60% of drug seizure cases in 2022 involved cannabis.

In the current legislative framework, there is no clear distinction between soft and hard drugs, leaving it to the discretion of judges to determine the treatment of users versus dealers, the study said.

Empirical examples show that decriminalization can produce positive results at both social and economic levels: In Portugal, the health and economic costs of drug use fell by 18% in 11 years after the relevant liberalizations. In the Netherlands, the decriminalization of light drugs has reduced crime and HIV transmission among heroin users. 

Liberalization policies are also associated with some negative effects, such as an increase in the proportion of adults using drugs. However, this kind of increase is also to some extent due to the legal prescription of soft drugs and is linked to a better monitoring framework.

To address the problem, the study makes specific policy reform recommendations including:

Revising the current legal framework to provide a clear definition of the category of soft drugs.

The complete separation of the simple user, the dependent and the trafficker for light drugs. In the first case, consider solutions ranging from a soft criminal approach to full decriminalization of use. In the case of addicts, provisions should be made for more effective social and psychological support for them.

Provisions made for the legal sale of light drugs so that, by controlling the supply networks, we can move toward an environment of legality, combating crime and taxing use, with a view to financing the health system and social actions against drug use. 

Focusing the legislative framework for tobacco control on prevention and lifting restrictions on alternative ways of smoking (e-smoking, snus, etc.), which will mitigate the negative impact of nicotine on public health instead of imposing ineffective restrictions and bans.