Dylan Wagemans
THE Spanish Secretary of State issued an instruction to the Policia Nacional and Guardia Civil, stating that the consumption of drugs in a parked vehicle is allowed.
The order is generating discomfort and doubts among officers who face this type of intervention daily throughout Spain.
According to the ruling, consuming drugs in a private car is allowed, since it’s happening inside private property – as long as the car is stationary and out of traffic.
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“This provision leaves it to the prudent discretion of the acting agents to assess whether the fact of consuming toxic drugs, narcotics or psychotropic substances inside a private vehicle used exclusively as a means of parked transport is or does not constitute a serious offence by virtue of paragraph 16,” warns the Secretary of State for Security.
According to the instruction, a car is considered as a home, so the consumption of drugs is allowed as it happens on private property.
However, the Spanish Supreme Court has ruled that ‘a car cannot be considered the same as a house’.
The decision has already sparked outcry on social media, with some calling the ruling ‘frightening’.
“It’s a swampy terrain and to the detriment of citizen security to say that a parked vehicle enjoys special protection for the consumption and possession of drugs,” said Carlos Quero, national spokesman for the Spanish police union.
