KEFiM: Greece should revise laws on soft drugs

Greece should revise its legal framework to either minimise penalties or fully decriminalize soft drugs to reduce the burden on the judicial and prison system, among other benefits, according to a study by the Center for Liberal Studies (KEFiM), in collaboration with the European network Epicenter. 

The study, authored by Christos Mantas, Professor of Social Sciences at the Labour Market University of Leicester and Lecturer at Metropolitan College, and Constantinos Saravakos, Research Project Coordinator at the KEFiM, notes that there is no clear distinction between soft and hard drugs in Greece. 

More than one in five prisoners in the country is in custody for drug-related offences, while only 5.5% of all cases are classified as related to significant drug seizures, and about 60% of drug seizure cases in 2022 involved cannabis.

In the current legislative...