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Should drug tests be mandatory?

A few years ago, opposition MP Dimitri Lortkipanidze suggested that all individuals working for public institutions should be required to take a drug test. President Mikheil Saakashvili approved of the idea, yet it has not become law.

Rezonansi asked two public figures what they think about mandatory drug testing for politicians and government workers.

Giorgi Shengelaia, Director: “Of course it should be mandatory. Passing a drug test should be of interest to public officials. In this case, some doubts will no longer remain. It will be good if this issue is regulated."

"I do not know... I think some provision should be determined by the necessity of this issue. I think the officials should have to pass a medical test for health.”

Dimitri Gabunia, lawyer: “This is an approved method around the world. We must determine if there is any politician or public official who are drug addicts. Every politician wants to be in power, so I think all should be checked. It should be established, with modern methods, if he is a drug addict. The less I wonder whether this issue will be raised in Parliament, but if it stands, it would not be bad.”



Labour Party demands health coverage for IDPs

Rezonansi reports that Labour Party member Kakhaber Dzagania has asked the government to provide medical treatment free of charge to IDPs.

“We ask President [Mikheil] Saakashvili, for whom the IDPs are only statistical weight for elections, to give medical treatment for free to the people expelled from Abkhazia and South Ossetia,” Dzagania said.