Polish Lawmaker Threatens to Smoke Marijuana in Parliament

Posted by Karri Gallaugher on January 20, 2012
Jan 202012

Janusz Palikot, Liberal Polish Party Leader

In Poland, the leader of a new left-wing party threatened to light up a joint in Parliament in Warsaw on Friday. Janusz Palikot is trying to get soft drugs, like cannabis, legalized among other liberal ideas in his rather conservative country. Palikot wants to decriminalize small amounts of cannabis in his country, so as his party leader, he announced his plan to light up some marijuana in Parliament. But his plan was criticized by the Parliament Speaker, Ewa Kopacz who publicly vowed that she would not allow him to break any laws inside parliament walls, and had prosecutors on hand to make an arrest if he pulled such a stunt.

In the end, Palikot lit some marijuana-smelling incense that he purchased legally in a smoke shop to avoid getting arrested in session. After the incense was burning, Palikot introduced a draft law for cannabis decriminalization. Although his liberal party has been making waves and media stories, Palikot’s bill has little chance of passing. His party won 10 percent of the votes in the October elections, making it the third largest party in Parliament, but still lacking critical votes to make any sweeping law changes.

The party also supports gay rights and is fighting to liberalize the countries strict abortion laws. The party is also against the heavy handed influence of the Catholic Church, and has petitioned to remove the Christian cross that hangs in Parliament. Prosecutors that were on hand this morning during the incense burning have opened an investigation into whether Palikot broke a law on the books against promoting or advertising drugs even with his threat to smoke cannabis in Parliament. That crime carries up to a year in prison. No charges have been filed yet, we will keep you posted….

External Links:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/polish-party-leader-threatens-to-light-up-joint-in-parliament-wants-soft-drugs-decriminalized/2012/01/20/gIQAXtFFDQ_story.html

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