Opinions on article 62 act on the prevention of drug addiction in the light of criminal law and the Constitution

Abstract

The article presents a few critical comments on the regulations laid down in Articles 62-62b Act on the prevention of drug addiction of 2005. The paper aims to draw attention to some doubts that the regulation raises not only because of the subject matter referred to in Article 62 but also due to the context of the constitutional provisions. It is an attempt to answer the question about the legal reason for criminalising the possession of psychotropic substances. The author presents a thesis that drug ‘use’ and ‘possession’ should be treated by law similarly and more as a social or medical problem than a criminal one, although it is not so in the present legal state, which is confirmed by the case law and literature referred to in the article. Penalisation of drug possession constitutes excessive entry in the forefield of prohibited acts and, as a result, leads to repressing consumers of psychoactive drugs by creating a separate category of offenders and offences. In the author’s opinion, the possession of small amounts of drugs for one’s own use should be rather treated in terms of social pathology (like prostitution or suicide), which should not generate criminal liability. The article also presents an analysis of Article 62 Act on the prevention of drug addiction from the perspective of Article 31 and Article 47 of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland. As a result, the author draws a conclusion that the provision of Article 62 referred to herein does not pass the so-called proportionality test and is unconstitutional.