Middle East

Apr. 25, 2017 | 06:14 PM

Tunisia parliament votes to ease harsh drug law

Local grower Adrian Shareve (R), who has accepted payment in the form of pork and other barter items, inspects a marijuana nug provided by grower Justin Calvino, in Mendocino County, California on April 19, 2017. Marijuana growers, forced to run their businesses with cash, must navigate legal and political gray areas as regulations and laws continue to change. / AFP / Josh Edelson

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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.