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Drug users and the law in the EU - Drugs in Focus, Issue No 2 (March–April 2002)

The four-page briefings, Drugs in Focus, are designed to offer policy-makers food for thought on key issues in the drugs field. This one, on Drug Users and the Law, shows there are a variety of approaches across the EU to illicit personal use of drugs. Yet, when comparing law with actual practice, national positions within the EU seem less divergent than might be expected. Developments over the last five years have revealed similar laws and guidelines emerging in response to drug users in a shift towards more lenient measures for personal drug use. In many countries, judicial and administrative authorities increasingly seek opportunities to discharge offenders, or, failing that, arrangements that stop short of severe criminal punishment, such as fines, suspension of a driving licence, etc. It also shows drug laws moving into line with practice: ‘Some countries now legitimise practices that had become common. In so doing, they bring the law into line with police and prosecution practice, thus enhancing the law’s credibility’. The briefing is available in 12 languages from the EMCDDA’s Publications section.
Drug users and the law in the EU
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Page last updated: Monday, 13 June 2005