"We have been following your comments for months and agreed that a three-month punishment is enough for society to express that it is unacceptable to consume narcotics," the government has said on Facebook and provided a link to an article in Novi List daily in which Miljenic has announced the intention to rescind the provision stipulating that the possession of even the smallest amount of drugs is a felony.

In the article, the minister says that possession of drugs for personal consumption should be treated as a misdemeanor and that "the maximum punishment of three months' imprisonment envisaged by the law on the prevention of drug abuse is enough" for society to say that drug use is unacceptable.

According to Miljenic, such punishment "is proportionate to the gravity of the crime and more appropriate than criminal accountability, as it does not carry a stigma and doesn't lead to addicts or recreational users being entered into criminal records."

The Justice Ministry feels that criminal law is ineffective in preventing the use of illegal drugs.

According to Miljenic, treating possession as a misdemeanour would also save money and reduce the number of prison sentences handed down for this offence.

The Penal Code treats possession as a crime punishable with a fine or one year's imprisonment and convicted persons are entered into criminal records.

The temporary manager of the Office for the Suppression of Drug Abuse, Dubravko Klaric, said treating drug possession as a misdemeanour would be more effective and cheaper, as it would relieve the judiciary. He said the police filed between 7,500 and 8,000 drug reports a year, of which 65 per cent referred to possession which prosecutors mostly treated as misdemeanours.

Klaric said the Health Ministry should define the amount of drugs to be considered for personal use.