Law No. 1992-52 on combating drug-related offenses is currently being revised. The General Legislation Committee of the Assembly of People’s Representatives (ARP) recently heard representatives of pharmacists regarding a draft bill to amend this legislation, advocating an approach that combines prevention, treatment, and targeted repression.
The presidents of the National Council of the Order of Pharmacists of Tunisia (CNOPT) and the Tunisian Federation of Private Pharmacists (SPOT) stated that prison sentences alone are not an adequate response.
They called for reducing custodial penalties for users seeking treatment, while strengthening sanctions against traffickers and organized criminal networks.
The two professional organizations also raised alarm over the rapid evolution of synthetic drugs, which are difficult to detect through conventional testing, as well as the misuse of certain addictive medicines. They called for stronger controls over their distribution and an update of the lists of psychotropic substances.
They also highlighted the inadequacy of Law No. 1969-54 on toxic substances in relation to current realities, lamenting the lack of legal protection it provides to pharmacists.
Pharmacists’ representatives further proposed allowing repeated voluntary treatment, given the low recovery rates.
Toughening penalties vs therapeutic approach
During the debate, several MPs argued in favor of maintaining or even strengthening penalties against users to protect schools and residential areas.
Others defended a therapeutic approach, considering the user as a patient, and called for the creation of regional centers specializing in psychological and social care.
It was unanimously emphasized that combating this phenomenon requires close coordination between security, health, education, social and cultural sectors, within a coherent and multidimensional national strategy.
Drug use among youth has quintupled!
According to a survey published by the National Institute of Health in 2023, drug consumption among young people aged 16 to 18 has increased fivefold. These statistics are not precise and are part of what are known as “dark figures”.
Several sociologists have warned against declining discipline in schools, which they consider the main cause of the spread of drug use among students. They stressed the need to intensify monitoring efforts to protect “the Tunisian school, which has become prey to small dealers among delinquents and criminals of all kinds who wait outside educational institutions to spread their poison.”
They argued that the spread of drugs in schools has made access easier and encouraged students to consume them, stressing the danger of leaving students in the streets due to the absence of teachers or during free periods, as students should be either inside school premises or with their parents.
Regularly, and at an increasing pace, reports emerge about the dismantling of drug trafficking networks and the seizure of large quantities of narcotics.
While the country has only one detoxification facility, the state continues to struggle to find adequate solutions to limit the consequences of this scourge.
