Ukraine: Demonstrators call for legalization of cannabis

This Saturday, May 20, 2017, several hundred demonstrators gathered in front of the Cabinet of Ministers in Kiev to demand that the government legalize cannabis, the newspaper reported Apostrophe. In Ukraine, cannabis use and cultivation are illegal. Supporters of Ukrainian legalization took to the streets with signs such as «Grass heals» and «Freedom, equality, decriminalization».»

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The demonstrators also called for the amendment of article 309 of the Ukrainian Criminal Code, which stipulates that «the production, acquisition, consumption, storage and transport of narcotics are illegal» in Ukraine.

«We are asking to [decriminalize] this article, so that the police can, finally, deal with serious crimes and not be confined to trivial offenses,» one of the participants told Ukrainian television channel Obschestvennoye TV. Decriminalization would mean raising the threshold of criminal responsibility at which a user is considered to be engaged in illicit trafficking.

The demonstrators argued that decriminalization, let alone legalization, would enable the Home Office to concentrate on the real fight against drug traffickers and drug-related crime, rather than prosecuting «minor offences» linked to cannabis. They also released green balloons in support of those currently in prison in the country for growing cannabis.

The event went off peacefully, with no incidents reported. In addition, the region's mayor, Michel Tereshchenko, a native of France, had declared last March that he intended to open the Europe's first cannabis processing center. He highlighted the virtues of medicinal cannabis and the effectiveness of the cannabinoids contained in the plant in the treatment of cancer.

On September 16, a «Freedom March» will be held in Kiev to advocate legalization and demand authorization for the recreational possession of cannabis.

Mehdi Bautier