The Hungarian government prepares to ban “advertising” drugs in certain works

During his usual annual hearing before the Parliament’s Cultural Committee, Interior Minister Sándor Pintér made an unusual statement. He revealed that a law is being drafted to prohibit the promotion of drugs “in certain works.”

Is a peculiar drug-related regulation coming?

The Hungarian media first picked up on the minister’s words thanks to 444.hu, though the idea was presented rather vaguely during the committee meeting. According to the news portal, the minister said:

“We will also address advertising. Soon, a new law or regulation will be introduced regarding various levels of advertising, which will ban it, and even forbid any appearance of drugs in certain works. This will not fall under the Criminal Code framework for now; we have a different approach in mind, and you will hear about it soon.”

• Budapest faces growing drug problem: ‘Drugs are cheaper than booze’

So it’s clear the Criminal Code won’t be amended for this. Either Parliament or the government will create some form of regulation on this issue. Since the minister didn’t specify which types of works might be affected, the scope remains quite broad.

Sándor Pintér (c, wearing glasses) on the hearing of the Hungarian Parliament’s committee:

Will drugs also face the battle within the pages of books?

The government commissioner for drug affairs, László Horváth, has previously criticised writers such as Dezső Kosztolányi, Géza Csáth (who himself died from a drug overdose), Charles Baudelaire, and even rapper Marcell Szirmai, known as Pogány Induló.

Kosztolányi remains part of the Hungarian school curriculum to this day. The former contributor to the literary journal Nyugat and a leading figure of 20th-century Hungarian poetry describes opium as his first ideal, used as a sedative, while hashish is his maddening companion in the poem Litany of Poisons (Mérgek Litániája). He also writes about cocaine and nicotine. According to Csáth Géza’s own accounts, he deliberately became addicted to morphine, which is reflected in his works and ultimately caused his death. Baudelaire’s essays, collected under the title Artificial Paradises, explore the effects of hashish and opium in depth.

Representatives of world literature such as Aldous Huxley, Hunter S. Thompson, William S. Burroughs, Hubert Selby, and Jack Kerouac might also fear the impact of the imminent Hungarian law, not to mention the consequences for music and other forms of art.

Read also:

• Entire arsenal of criminal law being deployed against drug dealers in Hungary

Click for more of our articles concerning drugs.