Police outrage as Spain rules possessing or taking drugs in a parked vehicle ‘is not to be punished’

The Spanish Minister of State has issued an order to the Guardia Civil (Police National) and the Policia Nacional that allows the consumption of drugs inside a parked car. 

The order has caused discomfort and confusion among the officers who have to deal with this kind of intervention every day in 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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The Secretary of State for Safety warns that “this provision leaves it up to the agents’ prudent discretion to determine whether or not the consumption of toxic drugs, narcotics, or psychotropic substances in a vehicle exclusively used as a parked transportation is or is not a serious offense under paragraph 16”.

The instruction states that a car can be considered a private residence, and therefore, the consumption of drugs on private property is permitted. 

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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’. 

Carlos Quero said that it was a swampy area and would be detrimental to citizen safety to claim that a vehicle parked in a parking lot is given special protection to consume and possess drugs.