Republic of Georgia Decriminalizes Cannabis After Court Rules Criminalization to be Unconstitutional
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The Republic of Georgia’s constitutional court has ruled that it is unconstitutional to criminally prosecute someone for consuming cannabis.
“Cannabis consumption has been decriminalized today,” says attorney Iago Khvichia, who represents the political party Girchi. “It will soon be decided whether [consumption] will be legalized”. The ruling doesn’t, however, effect the distribution of cannabis.
The ruling comes from a case brought forth by Givi Shanidze, a Georgia citizen who has been charged with several cannabis consumption offenses; Shanidze’s case was an attempt to have these charges cleared from his criminal record.
The ruling from the court comes several months after a July 14th ruling which found that the cultivation of up to 151 grams of cannabis for personal use isn’t a criminal offense.
The court’s ruling now heads to Georgia’s Parliament to be finalized into law.
