'Support, Don’t Punish' Rally to Be Held in Tbilisi

June 26 is the sixth Day of Action organized so far. Last year, thousands of people across 205 cities in 93 countries took part in the fifth Global Day of Action.

The 'Support, Don’t Punish' campaign calls for better drug policies anchored in public health and human rights, and Georgia has also joined the initiative.

The aim for the Global Day of Action is to produce high-profile and visually symbolic local actions in various countries.

In Georgia, the rally will start on 20:00 in Dedanea Park.

“The aim of the demonstration is to encourage the state to change the repressive drug policy and to establish a human approach to drug addicts, which implies the transfer of drug addiction issues from the justice sphere to the public health and human rights field,” the organizers of the rally say, calling on society to join them.

June 26 is the United Nations International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking – a day on which many governments celebrate their contributions to the global ‘war on drugs’. In the past, some governments have even commemorated this day by holding public executions or beatings of drug offenders.

June 26 is also the UN International Day in Support of Victims of Torture – an ironic coincidence given the widespread torture and abuse suffered in the name of the war on drugs.

By Thea Morrison