Many more men than women have alcohol problems, but the percentage of
women problem drinkers has risen more rapidly. Similarly, consumption by
youths is less than that of adults, but the numbers of youths becoming
habitual drinkers has been increasing. Many of the campaigns against
the use of alcohol are also directed against smoking and drugs, although
neither of these is considered a cause of serious concern. Smoking is
viewed as an evil that may be damaging to the user's health but that has
no serious social consequences. By 1973 drugs had not become a serious
problem.
The police monitor a large number of alcoholics whose conditions are
chronic but who can work. These persons get a period--ordinarily from
six months to a year--of compulsory treatment. This may include work
therapy in groups that are supervised to the degree necessary to prevent
the members from acquiring alcoholic beverages.
Increasing tourism has resulted in special problems in resort areas.
Spokesmen note that what they refer to as petit bourgeois attitudes
toward moneymaking have shown up, especially at the new Black Sea
coastal resorts. Local people inflate prices for tourists, accept and
encourage tips, and buy and sell merchandise illegally. On some
occasions the Bulgarians exploit their guests; at other times the
foreigners exploit the local population. Most seriously viewed of the
adverse tourist influences are the introduction of unacceptable ideology
and foreign encouragement of moral laxity which, according to the
authorities, pervades the area. Occasionally, however, there is an
example of an ideological diversity in a direction opposite that of lax
morality. One group of tourists was evicted from the country after
distributing what the police described as forty Bibles and 150 godly
booklets. Many tourists enter the country by automobile; traffic has
become congested, and violations of traffic laws are more numerous than
the police can cope with.
Criminal Code
The criminal code's preamble states that its purpose is to protect the
society and the state, the person and the rights of its citizens, the
economy, and the state's property and laws and to educate the citizens
in the rules of life in the socialist society. It defines crimes as
socially dangerous acts that are identified and declared by law as
punishable.
In addition to the qualification that a crime must be set down as such
and declared punishable, the individual is further protected by the
stipulation that he may be punished only when he has been found guilty
of one of the listed crimes by a proper court. The punishment may be
only what is set down in the code and declared consistent with the
crime, and it may be imposed only by the court trying the case.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account