Algeria sets a medical route for drug users to avoid prosecution

Algeria published detailed procedures in August 2007 for drug users to avoid prosecution through prescribed treatment or medical supervision.^[1] Medical assessments, progress reports and completion certificates linked the person’s care to the prosecutor’s decision.^[1] Seized drugs and plants still had to be confiscated.^[1]

A route already provided by the drug law

The 2004 drug law had allowed non-prosecution for qualifying users who followed its treatment or medical-supervision conditions.^[1][2] It also left illicit use and personal possession punishable with prison, a fine, or either penalty alone.^[1][2] The decree set out how the treatment route would be handled.^[1][2]

If a prosecutor learned that a person had already undergone the prescribed care after the alleged drug use, a medical report could support a decision not to prosecute.^[1] The prosecutor could still require examination by a specialist.^[1]

Assessment decides the form of care

When the case suggested drug dependence, the prosecutor ordered examination by a specialist.^[1] If the person needed detoxification in an establishment, the prosecutor directed them to the designated facility.^[1] Where that level of care was unnecessary, the person could instead be placed under medical supervision for the period indicated by the examination.^[1]

The decree therefore provided more than one setting for care.^[1] It connected the decision to the medical assessment, with the prosecutor remaining responsible for the legal handling of the case.^[1]

The doctor reports progress

Once the person entered the prescribed care, the treating doctor sent the prosecutor a certificate giving its starting date and probable duration.^[1] The doctor monitored progress and reported regularly.^[1] If treatment stopped, the establishment’s director or responsible doctor had to tell the prosecutor immediately.^[1]

At the end, a certificate confirmed that the person had followed the course or medical supervision.^[1] A copy went to the prosecutor for the non-prosecution decision.^[1] Confiscation of the seized substances and plants remained required in these cases.^[1]

Later amendments keep treatment in the law

The decree was signed on 30 July and published on 5 August 2007.^[1] Another decree in the same Gazette addressed medical and scientific authorisation for controlled-drug operations.^[1]

The 2023 amendment retained treatment-linked non-prosecution and added a protection for minors who completed detoxification.^[3] For people using drugs in Algeria, the medical route continued alongside criminal penalties for use and personal possession.^[3]