Saying No to Costly Drug Laws
OpEd
Friday, May 11, 2012
 In the year 2000, as the president of Poland, I signed one of Europe’s  most conservative laws on drug possession. Any amount of illicit  substances a person possessed meant they were eligible for up to three  years in prison. Our hope was that this would help to liberate Poland,  and especially its youths, from drugs that not only have a potential to  ruin the lives of the people who abuse them but also have been  propelling the spread of HIV among people who inject them. We were mistaken on both of our assumptions.
In the year 2000, as the president of Poland, I signed one of Europe’s  most conservative laws on drug possession. Any amount of illicit  substances a person possessed meant they were eligible for up to three  years in prison. Our hope was that this would help to liberate Poland,  and especially its youths, from drugs that not only have a potential to  ruin the lives of the people who abuse them but also have been  propelling the spread of HIV among people who inject them. We were mistaken on both of our assumptions.


 
						


