A recent court ruling highlights the impacts of the new narcotics law.
Although he had harvested more than 10 kg of cannabis leaves, an
Austrian man was not sentenced and the public prosecutor recently
dismissed the case – with a two-year probation period. According to the
new law the prosecutor must refrain from prosecution if the suspect
possessed the drug exclusively for personal use. However, if the suspect
is again found to possess cannabis within the probation period he is
threatened by prosecution since cannabis possession is not legal under
the new law.
Prior to January 1, 2008, dismissal of a case was only possible if the
suspect had been in possession of a “minor quantity” of a drug. For
cannabis, that quantity was, as in Germany, in the range of a few grams.
The revised law now no longer considers the quantity but the personal
use of a drug. In the current case where the defendant had harvested
leaves from allegedly discovered hemp field there was no evidence for
his intent to sell the material. The main motivation for the recent
amendment to the law was, according to responsibles at the Ministry of
Justice an EU decision regarding the fight against drugs. It had
tightened measures against drug dealers. However, it was felt that this
amendment required a stronger separation of drug dealing from personal use.
Translated from OÖnachrichten
Decriminalisation of personal use of cannabis in Austria
The European Union Countries seem to have taken a step backwards in their tolerance of individual freedoms.
Although they may not prosecute you in Austria for possession of cannabis, they will not tolerate its use in any
social context. A friend who visits your home may be offered a whiskey, but offering a joint will be deemed as dealing.
The likelihood of Austria introducing Cannabis cafe’s as they exist in the Netherlands is made even less likely since the
EEC has encouraged and seen the blanket ban on tobacco smoking in all indoor public spaces introduced and enforced
throughout the Union.
Although Austrians may feel the present laws on decriminalization (US spellchecker) are a great leap forward in terms of the removal of the threat of a criminal record and the massive loss of rights that would entail; the drawback is that cannabis users are again being sidelined by the community. If smoking cannabis, alone, at home, becomes the norm; I see a massive rise in the damage done to the mental state of isolated individuals, particularly with the new high strength ‘skunk’ varieties,
which might well lead to a backlash from the parents of apparently affected children. A backlash that has already led in the United Kingdom to an irrational re-classification of cannabis back to a Class B drug, on a par with amphetamine, barbiturates and LSD.
As an Englishman with a criminal record for drug possession myself, I am barred from a career in medicine, the law, teaching, taxi driving; In fact almost every career that is out there. I will never be called for jury service and I will never be able to become an MP to represent the two and a half million cannabis smokers that exist in the United Kingdom. This I can cope with. But being prevented from enjoying a cigarette anywhere other than in my home or in the wet gutter is a
greater curb on my personal liberty and pursuit of happiness than having to keep my hash in my underpants and having to fear a twenty pound fine.
Smoking cannabis in the Europe of the early seventies was a great deal more fun than it is now despite the apparent tolerance displayed in Austria. Decriminalization is not all that is necessary to make the life of cannabis users free.