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Belarus president talks about possible changes in legislation on drugs

MINSK, 2 September (BelTA) – Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko has talked about the possibility of amendments to the legislation on drugs. The head of state made the relevant statements as he talked to senior students in Minsk’s school No.93 on 2 September, BelTA has learned.

The conversation touched upon a healthy lifestyle, the abuse of alcohol, and smoking. “I don’t even want to talk about narcotics. We’ve recently passed the most rigorous legislation. It was so tough that mothers of those serving prison time have requested some lenience,” Aleksandr Lukashenko noted. “The relevant laws had been passed upon my initiative. We may have gone overboard in some aspects. Those, who use narcotics, are sick people. I thought they should be reeducated through labor in a correctional facility. We are doing just that but the withdrawal process can be terribly painful without full medical aid.”

“This is why it may be a good idea to pay more attention to treatment. But we cannot forgive those, who use [drugs],” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.

“I think I should meet with those parents, who would like to meet with me. But I will have to tell them something and we are now thinking what we can do in this regard. But those, who bring drugs here and distribute them, will get no mercy. People, who use drugs, are capable of anything. Those are dreadful people. And those, who represent the source of this dreadful evil, will be punished,” the Belarusian leader stressed.

Aleksandr Lukashenko said he believes that it is necessary to carefully and step by step introduce restrictions and prohibitions, including against smoking in public places, against tobacco sales. “As for the anti-drugs legislation, we’ve found out we’ve gone a bit too far. We’ll relax it a bit,” he added.

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