Romania Committee Seeks Drugs Debate

A presidential committee, examining the demographic and sanitary risks Romania is facing, is asking for a public debate that would discuss the merit of decriminalising drug consumption and legalising prostitution.

According to the report prepared by the Committee for the Analysis of Social and Demographic Risks, such a move would, under certain conditions, reduce several public health risks.

The committee has proposed introducing, in neighborhoods with drug problems, coin operated clean
needle dispensers, in order to prevent the sharing of needles. It proposes the "disincrimination of drug consumption - but not of trafficking - to bring consumers to the surface".

Regarding prostitution and the spread of HIV, the committee proposes legalising "commercial sex" and setting up services and special centers where prostitutes can receive free condoms as well as medical,
social and psychological assistance.

Prostitution is illegal in Romania. At the beginning of 2007 the government had considered legalising and regulating it, believing this would help combat human trafficking. But the Orthodox Church and some women associations are opposing the move, seeing it as an offence against women.

Drug consumption is forbidden in Romania, including soft drugs. Although a systematic registering and
surveillance system for drug consumption does not exist in Romania, the perception is that both traffic and consumption are on the increase.