The Ministry of Justice intends to limit the number of individuals undergoing compulsory treatment for alcohol addiction.
Alicja Baczynska reports.
“This does not mean doing away with the obligation altogether, but simply adapting the regulations to real life, so as to boost effectiveness,” says Sławomir Palka, deputy head of the Ministry’s department for decision implementation and probation.
According to the planned amendments the law would apply to criminal offenders, those suffering from alcohol-induced psychosis, and to life-saving situations.
The current system, based on obsolete regulations introduced back in 1982, is ineffective, while is takes up over 20 million euro a year, says Wioletta Olszewska, from the Ministry’s information office. Treatment is compulsory only by name, whereas the new law would undeniably boost law enforcement, says Krzysztof Brzozka, head of the State Agency for Prevention of Alcohol-Related problems.
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