Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda says he opposes the idea of decriminalizing the possession of small amounts of cannabis in the country.
Medical cannabis is legal in Lithuania, as is the production and sale of CBD.
“I am opposed to this idea at the moment because I think we have failed so far in our fight against the spread of drugs in schools and among the young people who are the future of our state,” Gitanas said. Nausėda on Lithuanian LRT RADIO on Friday answering questions from the audience.
According to the President, it is necessary to stem the spread of narcotics among young people before taking any initiative to decriminalize the possession of these substances.
“I don’t find it convincing when someone says that we are going to liberalize this area a little and then move on to education and various other projects. We reverse the order of things in this place. I think we should first educate and work to stop this evil and negative trend. And then we can talk about legislative initiatives,” he said.
Earlier in December, the Lithuanian Parliament approved a proposal to supplement the code of administrative offenses with fines imposed for possession of small amounts of cannabis, but failed to remove this offense from the criminal code during a separate vote.
In this project, fines of €300 to €1,000 would be imposed in the event of a repeat offence. Either way, the cannabis would be confiscated. The amount of cannabis to be considered small would be decided by the Ministry of Health.
Parliament also approved a proposal by Jonas Varkalis of the Liberal Movement that a person caught with cannabis three times in a year should be required to go to a center for addiction-related illnesses and undergo a treatment program. treatment designed by a psychiatrist.
Currently, possession of a small amount of any type of narcotic is punishable under criminal law in Lithuania.
In 2018, the Lithuanian Parliament twice rejected amendments aimed at decriminalizing the possession of small amounts of narcotics.
