THE PROSPECT of unauthorised anti-drugs campaigners being locked up in prison for operating without a licence led to the postponement by the House yesterday of new legislation.
A clause proposed by the Legal Services would impose a penalty of up to six months in jail or a fine of £1,000 on anti-drugs campaigners who do not first secure approval for their campaigns from the Anti-drugs Council, which is chaired by the Health Minister.
Kyriakos Veresies of KENTHEA, an education and treatment centre for drugs users, saw the law as prohibiting newspaper articles, leaflets and campaigns against drugs without the approval of the council.
“You can’t have volunteers working on drug prevention while simultaneously holding them in fear of incarceration,” said Veresies.
Health Minister Frixos Savvides, chairman of the 14-member anti-drug council, said the council has the authority to approve the content of anti-drugs campaigns. “However a penalty of some sort must be imposed to deter misinformation: what type is a question for parliament,” he told the Cyprus Mail.
Tonia Bayada of the Anti-drug Council admitted yesterday that the issue of penalties was controversial, but highlighted the importance of talks between the competent authorities and organisations. “We need to find a way of enforcing the guidelines set by the council,” Bayada said.
She acknowledged the need for criteria and procedures for licensing to be set before penalties can be implemented, but warned that control over the wide spectrum of anti-drugs activity was imperative.
The Anti-drug Council has in the past disapproved of various campaigns by municipalities involving ‘in your face’ images of needles and skulls on posters.
The chairman of the Anti-drugs Association, Georgios Michanikos, agreed with the need for a penalty of some sort, saying: “Many different organisations exist which need to be controlled by one regulatory body. They should not be given the freedom to do whatever they choose.”
A decision on penalties will be taken at a later date, Savvides said.
The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.
