Upon one year since entry into force of the Law “On New Psychoactive Substances”, the Twelfth Meeting of the State Commission Supporting Suppression of Distributing New Psychoactive Substances was held at the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia. Activities of the Commission over one year have been assessed at the Meeting. The Meeting was attended by the representatives of the MIA, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Labour, Health and Social Affairs of Georgia and the civil sector.
The Law “On New Psychoactive Substances” placed the so-called “Bios” and “Spices” under the legal regulation, which had been imported in Georgia without control and represented one of the major threats for the country. The Law has been initiated by the MIA initiative and is based on the experience from four European countries. The new Law has been effective in several directions. Since entry into force of the Law, impressive reduction tendency, more precisely, a 90% reduction of using “Bio Drugs” has been identified. Furthermore, no lethal cases caused due to this drug have been detected and the referral to medical institutions due to “Bio Drugs” have been minimized. Moreover, the Law is the basis for creating the State Commission Supporting Suppression of Distributing New Psychoactive Substances, which conducts permanent monitoring over existing situation in the country concerning “Bio Drugs” and reacts to the challenges in this regard, as well as ensures effective implementation of the Law.
Over one year 12 Commission Meetings have been held. Furthermore, on the basis of the Law and for the purposes of ensuring transparency, publicity and accountability of the State Commission before the society, a separate section of drug policy web-page of the MIA official site (police.ge) is devoted to the activities of the Commission, including publishing quarterly reports covering the activities of the Commission on a new web page; these reports are available in the Georgian as well as English languages. Participants of the State Commission positively assessed a complex state policy directed against new psychoactive substances, including legislative initiatives and measures implementing them, existence of a monitoring mechanism and conducting cooperation-oriented activities, preventive measures and anti-drug campaign: “No to Bio Drugs – Let’s Change the Attitude Together”. It was highlighted at the Meeting that all segments of the policy turned out to be effective and together they ensured achieving positive results.
