Member of the House of Representatives and Engineer, John Talaat, is in the process of drafting a new law to be submitted to the Parliament, discussing the abolition of punishment for drug usage, especially “hashish” hash.
According to Youm El Sabea, Talaat is planning on collecting signatures of deputies for the draft law during the upcoming plenary session of the Council scheduled on October 21st. He is preparing the draft for presentation and discussion in the Board during its fourth session.
The MP further explains the purpose of the new law saying that he believes that instead of punishing drug addicts they should be sent to rehabilitation for a period of 3 to 6 months. He stressed that replacing the punishment by actual treatment rather than imprisonment would not cost the state more than the actual costs of imprisonment.
The main aim is to protect and aid the youth in battling drug addiction, using the most suitable methods possible. According to Talaat, most addicts fall into a young age group category, and it destroys their future when they get imprisoned for drug usage.
He highlighted that the real danger lies in how these young people get to spend all this time with actual criminals in prison. In other words, imprisoning addicts because of addiction instead of treating them could lead to ethical destruction in younger generations. The MP made it very clear that the law only addresses drug usage and not drug dealing in any way.
The proposed law will be like an an attempt to find a solution that is in favor of the troubled youth and that at the same time does not cost the state more than it is already spending on actual prisoners.
