Mothers-328 Succeeded In Softening "Drug" Article

The activists intend to fight for further legislative changes.

In the second reading, amendments to Article 328 of the Criminal Code, which is called a "drug article", were adopted. The Interior Ministry has previously actively opposed its changes, Belsat reports.

The main changes are the lowering of the lower limits of punishment in some parts of Article 328. Now, possession of drugs for the purpose of distribution carries a risk of 3 to 8 years in prison. Previously, the minimum penalty was 5 years. For the same crime committed by a group of people on a large scale or repeatedly, the penalty was reduced to 6 instead of 8 years in prison.

There is no change in the punishment for those who store drugs without the purpose of distribution, now there is a threat of imprisonment for up to 5 years.

"In principle, the requirements we've been making have been met. We asked MPs to pass the bill, they did it," – Tatsiana Kaneuskaya, an activist of the Mother-328 movement, said.

At the same time, activists intend to fight for further changes in drug legislation.

"We are trying to help juveniles get out of prison. We also intend to continue working with the courts and the prosecutor's office to change the practice of applying the law," Tatsiana Kaneuskaya added.