Armenia: drug consumption got decriminalised

One of our correspondents in Eastern Europe has received the following message:

Dear Colleagues,

I am pleased to inform you that starting from yesterday drug use is decriminalized in Armenia and the Art. 271 of the "Criminal Code" of Armenia has been liquidated. We hope that this will enable the drug addicts freely to refer to the health services, thus reducing the risks of blood-borne diseases; however there is a big room for advocacy activities and mentality change so to avoid stigma and discrimination.

The administrative sanctions for drug use are set at 200-400 minimum wages (nearly 320-640USD), which is very high in our understanding and the SCAD-V* will be continue its support for streamlining drug related legislation and aligning it to the international standards.

Thank you all who were part of this achievement.

Kind regards and have a nice weekend.

Mr. Grigori Malintsyan
 Country Manager for Armenia, SCAD V
 United Nations Development Programme

*The South Caucasus Anti-Drug Programme is the response of the United Nations Development Programme, the European Union and national governments of the South Caucasus to reinforce drug control capacities in the region while simultaneously bolstering the capacity of national stakeholders to prevent drug abuse and provide continuum care to drug addicts. The programme is funded by the European Union and implemented by UNDP.*