Romanian senators propose bill to replace prison sentences with fines for drug possession

Legislative proposal and penalty structure

Unaffiliated Senator Victoria Stoiciu, who left the Social Democratic Party in April 2026, submitted draft law B544/2026 to the Romanian Senate to eliminate criminal penalties for personal drug possession. The initiative is co-sponsored by Senator Cristian Ghinea of the Save Romania Union and Senator Daniel Fenechiu of the National Liberal Party, who together requested an emergency debate procedure. Under the bill, the cultivation, production, acquisition, and possession of illicit substances for personal consumption would be reclassified from criminal offenses into administrative contraventions. Fines would range from 1,000 to 1,500 lei for risk drugs and from 1,500 to 3,000 lei for high-risk drugs, with cross-border transport for personal use incurring fines up to 3,500 lei. Under Article 4 of existing Law 143/2000, illicit possession for personal use carries prison sentences between three months and two years for risk drugs, and six months to three years for high-risk drugs.

Healthcare provisions and treatment funding

The proposal maintains criminal penalties for drug trafficking while redirecting users toward medical and psychological assistance. Under the planned provisions, revenue collected from contravention fines would directly finance prevention, psychological counseling, and medical recovery programs. The draft law also authorizes public health units to establish supervised consumption rooms where adults diagnosed with substance dependence can self-administer drugs under clinical monitoring to reduce fatal overdoses. Healthcare facilities and their medical staff would be legally prohibited from procuring or providing any illicit substances to patients. For minors caught possessing drugs for personal consumption, the bill introduces mandatory diagnostic evaluations conducted by dedicated mental health centers.

Stoiciu outlined the rationale behind the public health focus during the bill's presentation.

Decriminalization does not mean leniency and it does not mean legalization: it means treating consumption as a health issue, as all international evidence shows, and restoring state resources where they belong, to traffickers and to people who need help.

Enforcement metrics and DIICOT caseload

Sponsors of the legislation pointed to judicial data showing an increasing focus of law enforcement on end users rather than organized trafficking networks. Drug-related investigations account for 77.51% of the total caseload handled by the Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT), with simple consumers representing approximately 80% of all investigated individuals. More than 80% of these open files concern quantities under 5 grams, with the average seizure standing at approximately 1 gram. Between 2016 and 2025, final convictions for personal drug possession increased from 78 to 520, while final convictions for drug trafficking rose at a much slower rate, moving from 672 to 873 over the same ten-year period. In 2024, the Romanian state allocated approximately 51 lei to police enforcement for every 1 leu spent on drug prevention and user assistance.

Political opposition and coalition tensions

The legislative initiative faced swift pushback from members of parliament across multiple parties, including the Social Democratic Party, the Alliance for the Union of Romanians, and the National Liberal Party. PNL lawmaker and former interior minister Marcel Vela publicly rejected the initiative, stating that his party does not support decriminalizing drug possession or use. Vela stated that the draft bill had not been discussed or approved by the PNL parliamentary group or the party's National Political Bureau. Stoiciu and the co-sponsors have stated that the bill will now proceed through the standard Senate committee review and subsequent parliamentary debates.