Croatian supreme court allows marijuana for stressed-out war veteran
Croatia’s supreme court has overthrown on appeal a jail sentence given to a war veteran who used marijuana to calm his nerves, with the court saying that his use of the drug against Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) was legitimate.
Technically, what the court did was to declare the man’s use of marijuana a "meaningless act" under Croatian law, which means that he could not be prosecuted.
Identified in Croatian media reports as "KD", the man was reported to be one of up to 18 000 veterans of the 1991-95 war.
A court in his home town of [[map:Virovitica|Virovitica, croatia|]], about 100km east of the capital city Zagreb, sentenced him to jail – in line with common practice in Croatia where courts come down hard on drug consumption – for growing marijuana plants and being in possession of 67.71g of marijuana.
On appeal, the supreme court overturned the jail sentence on June 3 2009, saying that it had taken into consideration "that the defendant suffers from PTSD…marijuana relaxes him and helps him to overcome psychological problems".
While the ruling is being seen as a precedent in cases of war veterans with PTSD, media reports quoted authorities as saying that strict sentences for drug cultivation, selling and consumption remained in effect.
Technically, what the court did was to declare the man’s use of marijuana a "meaningless act" under Croatian law, which means that he could not be prosecuted.
Identified in Croatian media reports as "KD", the man was reported to be one of up to 18 000 veterans of the 1991-95 war.
A court in his home town of [[map:Virovitica|Virovitica, croatia|]], about 100km east of the capital city Zagreb, sentenced him to jail – in line with common practice in Croatia where courts come down hard on drug consumption – for growing marijuana plants and being in possession of 67.71g of marijuana.
On appeal, the supreme court overturned the jail sentence on June 3 2009, saying that it had taken into consideration "that the defendant suffers from PTSD…marijuana relaxes him and helps him to overcome psychological problems".
While the ruling is being seen as a precedent in cases of war veterans with PTSD, media reports quoted authorities as saying that strict sentences for drug cultivation, selling and consumption remained in effect.