Activists attend rally outside the government office in Tbilisi on June 2, 2015 to demand decriminalization of marijuana. Photo: Eana Korbezashvili/Civil.ge

Parliamentary committee for human rights has dismissed a bill decriminalizing possession and personal use of small amounts of marijuana, but supported a proposal that would repeal imprisonment as a punishment for the offense.

Under the Georgian law possession of a small amount of marijuana for personal use, without intent to sell, is an administrative offense, punishable with GEL 500 fine.

Repeated offense carries criminal punishment with up to one year imprisonment.

Georgia’s justice system differentiates between administrative offenses, which are misdemeanors, and criminal offenses.

During the session in Tbilisi on June 30 the parliamentary committee on human rights discussed a bill sponsored by former UNM and currently independent lawmaker Goga Khachidze that would decriminalize the personal use of small amounts of marijuana, removing the offense from the criminal code.

But the bill still leaves it as an administrative offense, punishable with GEL 100 fine.

During the debates MP Khachidze said that his bill is just a “tiny step” in the direction of liberalisation and he had to opt for such a minimalistic approach as the issue remains controversial and a bolder proposal would have caused even more opposition from many lawmakers.

PM Irakli Garibashvili, who is also the leader of the Georgian Dream ruling coalition holding the majority in the Parliament, said earlier this month that he has “sharply negative” stance towards marijuana decriminalization.

GD lawmakers present at the committee hearing were mostly very critical of MP Khachidze’s bill, but, at the same time, some of them were also suggesting that they would not be against removing imprisonment from the list of penalties for this offense in the criminal code.

Although the proposed bill was voted down, committee chairperson, GD MP Eka Beselia, offered as an alternative to indicate in a committee conclusion, which is not binding either for a sponsor or for the Parliament as a whole, to leave personal use of marijuana as a criminal offense, but to repeal prison term as a penalty for the offense.

MP Khachidze told Civil.ge that he agrees to amend his bill in line with the committee’s recommendation as it would be, although “a small”, but still a step forward, if approved by the Parliament. He, however, also said that he would keep on lobbying for further liberalisation in the future.

Every year on June 2, since 2013, rallies are held in Tbilisi and some other cities of the country to demand decriminalization of marijuana.

A group of activists united in this movement that is known as “June 2” said in a statement on their Facebook page that the decision of the parliamentary committee of human rights is “a first step towards liberalisation of drug policy.”