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Athens News Agency: News in English, 08-12-03
CONTENTS
[01] Bill against prison overcrowding, child sex abuse passed
[01] Bill against prison overcrowding, child sex abuse passed
A justice ministry bill for relieving overcrowding in prisons and
the protection of children from sexual abuse, also including an
amendment setting the maximum allowable quantities for the more
common illegal drugs that could be considered to be for personal
use, was passed by Parliament on Wednesday.
The justice ministry also accepted three amendments to articles
proposed by main opposition PASOK and the Coalition of the Radical
Left.
Under the bill passed into law on Wednesday, maximum quantities that
are considered to be for the holder's personal use, even if the
person is a known addict, are 1.5 grammes of heroin and cocaine, 20
grammes unprocessed cannabis, and 2.5 grammes processed cannabis,
including the packaging.
Other changes were to the terms for the conditional release of
inmates suffering from serious illness, with the measure now
applying to those suffering from AIDS, chronic kidney failure
requiring regular dialysis treatment, quadriplegics, those with
drug-resistant tuberculosis, those with advanced liver cirrhosis and
67 percent disability, people over 80 suffering from senile dementia
and those suffering from final-stage malignant tumours.
Among the proposed amendments accepted was one that recognised the
successful completion of a state-approved drug rehabilitation
programme as a mitigating circumstance in the sentencing of drug
users.
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