The decision on the legalization of marijuana is nothing like betrayal of the nation, said the official representative of the Georgian Patriarchate Archpriest Andria, Jagmaidze the TV channel “Imedi”, reports Interfax-Religion.
He commented on made on Monday by the Constitutional court of Georgia, verdict according to which all penalties for marijuana use without a doctor’s prescription unconstitutional.
“This was expected, and we expected the worst. It can be regarded only as betrayal of the nation,” said the priest.
According to him, legalization of marijuana will lead to very negative consequences.
“It is impossible to have four people who are judges of the constitutional court, took a completely illogical decision, thus ignoring chetyrehbalnoy of the nation. I think that this constitutional court should be abolished,” – said the representative of the Church.
On July 30 the constitutional court of Georgia satisfied the claim of members of the opposition party “of Garci” Zurab Japaridze and Vakhtang Megrelishvili against the Parliament. The plaintiffs challenged the constitutionality of the provisions of the Code of administrative offences, which established administrative responsibility for consumption of marijuana.
“Marijuana use is an area protected by the right to free development of personality”, – stated in the decree of the court, in this connection, “institutional responsibility for the consumption of marijuana is disproportionate to the legitimate purpose and is contrary to the requirements of article 16 of the Constitution of Georgia”.
At the same time, the constitutional court stated that the responsibility for the use of marijuana in conformity with the Constitution in cases when a specific consumption pose a risk to third parties. For example, the responsibility for the use of marijuana is considered to be reasonable when the action takes place in academic, educational or educational institutions, in public areas of certain types, for example, in public transport, in the presence of minors, etc.
According to official data, in Georgia, for every 10 thousand people there are 29 drug addicts, of which only a small proportion (11,5%) are undergoing treatment. The most common drug is marijuana, its uses and 63.9% in drug addicts.