Declaration of supporters of Boidar Radii On the 21st of September 2012 at 15:18, Boidar Radii, an activist in the field of drug

policies and an advocate of medical cannabis in Slovenia, was detained. In his garden he had five cannabis plants which he cultivated exclusively for his own use and self-medication. Despite the complete lack of evidence of the purpose of re-sale, as well as the presence of irregularities in the procedure, carried out by law enforcement agencies, Boidar remains in custody up to this day. In order to highlight the injustice that has been going on, he decided to go on a hunger strike. We might safely say that at this point Boidar is fighting for all of us who have strong reasons to believe that cannabis should be legalized in Slovenia, the way it has been legalized in many other countries (in Europe, as well as world-wide). It is perfectly clear that the socalled war on drugs has utterly failed at accomplishing its expected effects. Au contraire to the claims of apologists of prohibitive doctrine, evidence shows that it has actually triggered increased use of drugs and resulted in thriving black market in illicit drugs and related crime and corruption, rapid increase in the number of people imprisoned for the victimless crimes and consequent stigmatization and social exclusion. It is therefore all the more important for a future drug policy to be arranged in a way that will not be exclusive but shall instead be focused on providing support and help. Countries that perform advanced and evidencebased drug policy (in the EU that applies to majority of member states) have recorded encouraging results in terms of stagnation of percentage of drug users, more realistic and successful state control over drug use, certain loss of power of the black market, improvement of the public finances, as well as a huge benefit to the health and welfare system. The list goes on... It's about time for things to move from the point zero also in Slovenia. It's about time to end the hypocrisy and face the facts. For quite a few years it is widely known that the cannabis plant, which is an invaluable tool in the field of medicine, is also extremely promising in the food, textile and car industry, as well as a building material, fuel, paper, etc.. All that was already noted in the not too distant past but was deliberately ignored in the past few decades. But while people around the globe advocate for drug policy change, Slovenia continues to bow to the legislation that is remarkably outdated. Slovenia is one of the few EU countries that does not allow the use of cannabis for medical purposes, whereas in the neighbouring Austria (that otherwise serves as a model for looking up to) cannabis on prescription can be easily obtained. After all, cannabis and its derivatives are proven to alleviate pain and even cure about 700 diseases. Also, we must recognize and exploit the potential of hemp in the industry and agriculture. Despite of all these well-known and scientifically proven facts, the so-called experts in Slovenia still turn a blind eye. Instead of opting for the praxis of medical and industrial usage of cannabis, its consumption still remains the main preoccupation of the police, legal and penal system, which is a fact that is also confirmed by Boidar's research. At least half of the criminal work is bound to drugs - of which at least 80% applies to cannabis-related offenses. One should not ignore the fact that there is a common praxis of wrongfully convicting the cannabis users of trafficking. The statistics speak a rather meaningful story. While the average ratio between felonies and misdemeanors related to drugs in the EU goes for 5-10%

of felonies (trafficking) and 90-95% of misdemeanors (possession), there is quite a different situation in Slovenia: it's average is 30% of felonies and 70% of misdemeanors. What's more, Boidar's attention was particularly raised by the ratio which was recorded in Police Administration Unit Murska Sobota (PAU MS). There is an average of 70% of felonies and only 30% of misdemeanors. And there's more. Due to higher (meaning, artificially constructed) amount of crimes related to drugs, PAU MS in 2010 even set up a special group in the CAP-PAU Murska Sobota that was meant to combat drug trafficking and prosecute cannabis users in particular. At the same time we should not ignore the fact (also pointed out by Boidar) that Slovenia spends 300,000,000.00 per year for the persecution and criminalization of its citizens for cannabis use - this amount includes the cost of the police, prosecution, courts, expert witnesses, lawyers, spies, helicopters etc., despite of a wide selection of options to spend that money much more wisely. All this and more was also repeatedly being exposed by Boidar who is now tried to be silenced. It is now up to us to help him, as well as ourselves. There's been more than enough of deception and persecution of the people. We demand the immediate release of Boidar Radii. We call on the relevant institutions to respond and take action in all cases of violation of basic human rights and fundamental freedoms. We urge law enforcement agencies to do their work professionally and without malicious and unfair treatment and silencing of ideological opponents. At the same time we call upon all citizens of Slovenia to begin advocating for their rights which have never been and will also never be awarded but shall always be acquired only through fighting for them. Who, if not us? When, if not now?