On 21 August 2018 The Act amending the Anti-Do drugs Act and the State Sanitary Inspection Act began to apply. With the rules coming into force, the fight against drugs will be more effective than before.
The amendment to the Act was developed due to the urgent need to implement further measures to limit the production and placing on the market of replacements and new psychoactive substances. It provides for criminal rules to be imposed, in particular, on the distribution of these substances and the creation of legal instruments allowing the responsibility of those associated with it.
Penalties for possession and trafficking of drugs
From the date of entry into force of the Act for the mere possession of significant amounts of boosters will be punishable even until 3 years in prison, and for trading them even to 12 years. Holders of prohibited substances which are subject to a fine or restriction or imprisonment will also be brought to justice 3 years.
It will only be possible to discontinue proceedings if the subject of the action is a small amount of boosters for personal use.
The amendment to the Act therefore introduces new mechanisms that will use criminal law against manufacturers and sellers of new psychoactive substances. As a result of the introduced solutions, people who sell "boosters" will be treated the same way as people who sell drugs.
New definition of boosters
The new law provides for a change in the definition of boosters – a psychoactive substance will be ‘tipped off’ from a replacement.
The psychoactive substance has a known chemical formula, which allows it to predict its effects, and it will be on the list of new substances, the possession of which will be punished on a par with possession of drugs. The bill will also speed up the process of entering new substances on the list of banned compounds.
So far, the bill had to be amended to establish a list of banned substances. This will now be done by regulation, which is much faster.
The Act also includes a provision imposing an obligation to report to the State Sanitary Inspection cases of poisoning with a substitute or a new psychoactive substance. By the end of March each year, the Chief Sanitary Inspector will be required to draw up a summary report of the application from all over Poland, and institutions suspected of the patient of using boosters will have to notify the county health inspector. The Act also assumes the creation of a death and poisoning register caused by boosters.
The rules are intended to provide the same support to people who are addicted to drugs and drugs – they will be able to count on treatment, rehabilitation and psychological support.