Summary
Tunisia's parliament voted Tuesday to ease the country's harsh law on drugs, in a move that could see offenders like youths caught smoking marijuana escape jail terms.
Law 52, dating back to the rule of toppled dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, imposes a mandatory one-year jail sentence for narcotics use, ruling out any mitigating circumstances.
Judges were obliged to apply the law, with offenders facing sentences of up to five years in jail.
Before Tunisia's 2011 revolution, Law 52 was used to suppress criticism of the Ben Ali regime.
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