Poland's parliament on Thursday approved a bill which stiffens penalties against drug users and sellers.

Poland's parliament on Thursday approved a bill which stiffens penalties against drug users and sellers, hoping to combat the mounting narcotics-related crime. The bill, approved in a 367 to 18 vote with two abstentions, introduces jail terms of up to three years for the possession of drugs, including soft ones. Under the current law, carrying drugs in small quantities for personal use is legal. The draft law, which still needs to clear the senate and be signed by the president, imposes prison terms of up to two years for owners of bars and other entertainment business, who fail to notify the police about drug transactions on their premises. Retail sellers of drugs, who now often escape punishment, will face up to 10 years in jail. The bill's advocates say it will help crack down on a multi-billion-dollar narco-business in Poland, which has flourished since the fall of communism in 1989. Official statistics show that the number of drug addicts reached 600,000 in 1999 among Poland's 38 million population. Some 5,000 of them were undergoing treatment. Last year, every fourth high school student at least once used drugs, compared with one in ten in 1995.