[The issue of harm reduction in Polish legislation concerning drug addiction. A comparative study]

The aim of work is the assessment of legal permissibility for health and social harm reduction programmes resulting from drug use in the context of the polish legislation on narcotic drug use and drug addiction.

The thesis outlines harm reduction programmes implemented worldwide, role of penal code in counteracting both narcotic drug supply and demand, attitude of United Nations and European Union to the drug problem including harm reduction programmes, solutions adopted in the selected European Union member states. The main part of the thesis presents the evolution of polish legislation regarding drug use and analysis of legal permissibility for harm reduction programmes in this context.

The conclusion inferred is the statement that implementation of the harm reduction programmes requires a certain minimal depenalisation of the drug use by a legislator and the fact that restrictive legal system impedes programme realization. Thus the thesis postulates depenalisation of small drug quantities for personal use.