MISDEMEANOUR LAW IN THE SERVICE OF DRUG SUPPRESSION IN REPUBLIC OF CROATIA

DRUG POSESSION WITHOUT DISTRIBUTION INTENTION

Abstract

When it comes to drug abuse suppression, the choice of a state reaction is conditioned by different circumstances, but the aspiration for efficiency is the primary motiv. The means of banning imply legal mechanisms and sanctions, and in the Republic of Croatia these mechanisms belong criminal and misdemeanor law. The subject of this paper focuses on the misdemeanor law in the view of the significant alterations presented in the Republic of Croatia a few years ago: drug posession without distribution intention has been left out of criminal law mechanism and left to misdemeanour law. However, the chosen solution also contains several open questions. We give answers to these questions in this paper, striving to approach them holistically. We present the legislative positions, taking into account the prior knowledge and the etiology of the accepted solution, representing the drug abuse in the society, and by conducting research of relevant judgments, we disclose the attitudes of the judiciary by examining the purposefulness of the adopted solution.