Central Executive Committee issues Decree on Controlled Substances

The Central Executive Committee of the New Richmond Republic has enacted its seventh Decree of the First Revolutionary Year, imposing restrictions on the use and distribution of many substances commonly called "drugs".

The Decree on Controlled Substances was adopted the unanimous consent of the whole Committee - which is vested with legislative authority between the semiannual sessions of the Congress of People's Councils - earlier today, after nearly one month of deliberation and revision by the members thereof. The Decree was proposed by the Chairwoman of the Committee (the Prime Minister of the Republic) Comrade Brooklyn Hewitt with the aim of combatting the opioid epidemic that actively devastates the American communities which encircle the Republic's lands and which many citizens have themselves fallen prey to.

Within central Appalachia, which the New Richmond Republic calls home, an epidemic has ravaged the people for many, many years. The capitalist class of the United States and its subservient state apparatus, who have raped this land and broken the backs of its people for as long as any of us can remember, oversaw the torrential influx of opioid painkillers into our impoverished homes; thereby damning generations with the destruction of their families and lives through the disease known as opioid addiction, weaponized by the bourgeoisie to pacify the masses. In many of the American towns surrounding our own, legally-certified “pharmacies” are in operation which exist for the sole purpose of funneling as many opioids into our people’s hands as possible – a lucrative racket known as the “pill mill”. Many of the citizens of this Republic have fallen victim to this state-sponsored plague themselves.

The maliciousness and willful hypocrisy of the oppressor is made even more apparent when one considers the continuing prohibition of cannabis and psychedelics – substances which are known to be much safer than opioids, and in the latter case may be effective in treating psychological ailments – and the mass incarceration of their non-violent users with a deliberate focus on those who are black, Latino, indigenous, et cetera; further propagating the vicious cycle of the so-called United States “justice” system.

​In solemn recognition of this evil and guided by the unyielding anger of the entire people towards the jackals who are culpable for it, the Central Executive Committee – acting on behalf of the whole Central People’s Government – resolutely enacts this Decree on Controlled Substances.

The Decree mandates that numerous "hard drugs" such as methamphetamine, cocaine, heroin (and other opiates/opioids), and others are classified as "class one substances," with a maximum penalty of permanent expulsion for those who sell, distribute, manufacture, or import them. Although use of such substances is classified as a criminal offense for legal reasons, the prescribed punishment does not exceed temporary loss of the right to hold political office with the aim of encouraging addicts to seek help and become sober.

Some substances, such as MDMA and salvia divinorum, are classified as "class two substances" which are, by default, illegal throughout the Republic; however, the people's councils and other local authorities are given the right to decriminalize their use and distribution for individuals who are at least 18 years of age. Furthermore, substances such as tobacco, alcohol, cannabis, and many psychedelics are classified as "regulated substances" and are legal throughout the entire Republic for use and distribution by individuals who are at least 18 years of age.

The Decree imposes severe consequences for individuals who distribute controlled substances to minors ranging from the temporary exile and loss of political rights to permanent expulsion, dependent on the classification of the substance distributed and the intent behind distribution. Under the provisions of the decree, children who are found to be in possession of controlled substances are not legally liable - all responsibility is held by the adults who enabled them. Substances which are not referenced by the Decree are subject to the provisions of Kentucky state law.

The full text of the Decree can be found here.