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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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Portugal: Drugs Conference in Lisbon
Euro Weekly News
Sunday 03 Dec 2006 FRANCO Frattini, Vice-President of the European Commission, has called for “continued, concerted and measurable action” to strengthen Europe’s response to the problems of illegal drugs. Mr Frattini’s remarks were made during a one-day briefing in Lisbon on the European Monitors Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA’s) 2006 annual report, ahead of its official launch in Brussels last week. The visit is the second by Vice-President Frattini to the EMCDDA in Lisbon, reflecting the urgency attached to addressing drugs problems in Europe. “Only with up-to-date and reliable intelligence can we improve our responsiveness to Europe’s evolving drug problems,” said Frattini. The new EMCDDA annual report was released on November 23 at the European Parliament. As European Commissioner for Justice, Freedom and Security, Mr Frattini is responsible for the EU drugs portfolio, overseeing implementation of the 2005–2012 EU drugs strategy and its current Action Plan (2005–2008). Meeting with EMCDDA Director Wolfgang Götz and staff members, Mr Frattini underlined the value of the EMCDDA as provider of the annual snapshot of the European drugs situation. Around 80 actions are planned to be implemented in line with the EU Drugs Action Plan 2005–2008. The Commission, which is responsible for monitoring and evaluation of the plan, presents annual progress reviews on the campaign’s implementation, in order to identify gaps and possible new challenges. The EMCDDA makes an important contribution to this, providing data collected and analysed from the Member States. Commenting after the briefing, Frattini said: “The new EMCDDA annual report gives us cause for both optimism and concern. First of all, considerable progress has been made in exchanging information on drug problems —not only internally among Member States, acceding and candidate countries, but also with countries and organisations outside the EU. Also encouraging are new targeted legislative actions aimed at breaking key links in the drug supply chain, including two regulations controlling precursor chemicals and the establishment of EU-wide minimum penalties against drug traffickers. We have also built what is effectively an ‘early-warning system’ for emerging threats, enabling Europe to assess with confidence the risks of new psychoactive substances that are currently not controlled under existing legislation. But we also face worrying findings. Record levels of heroin seizures in Europe must be seen in the context of increasing production in Afghanistan, and we cannot be complacent about the possible impact of the increasing availability of this heroin on the streets of Europe. Similarly, cocaine seizures continue to grow and there is evidence that cocaine cartels are increasingly targeting European markets.” The EMCDDA 2006 annual report states that opportunities for drug treatment across Europe are being widened, diverting drug-dependent users away from the criminal justice system and towards treatment and rehabilitation. At the same time, there is a shift in enforcement efforts towards increased penalties for supply and trafficking and a reduced emphasis on custodial sentences for drug possession for personal use. The report also concludes that cannabis is by far the illegal substance most commonly used in Europe. Recent population surveys indicate that between two to 31 per cent of adults (aged 15 to 64 years) have tried the substance at least once, depending on the country. A rough European estimate would be around 20 per cent of adults having ever tried cannabis, representing 65 million European adults. As with other illegal drugs, rates of cannabis use are notably higher among males than among females. Traditionally, population surveys showed that after cannabis, amphetamines were the illegal substance most commonly used, albeit their overall prevalence is clearly lower than that of cannabis. But this pattern seems to be now changing with Ecstasy taking second place after cannabis. According to recent surveys, among all adults (15 to 64 years), lifetime experience with amphetamine ranged from 0.1 per cent to 5.9 per cent in EU Member States, except in the United Kingdom, where it was 11.2 per cent. Among young adults (15 to 34 years), lifetime experience with amphetamines ranges from 0.1 per cent to 9.6 per cent, with the United Kingdom reporting 16.5 per cent (although in this country recent or current use figures are more in line with other European countries). Ecstasy has been tried by 2.6 percent on average in the European Union. National population surveys show that between 0.4 percent and 6 percent of the general adult population reports have tried cocaine at least once, with the highest levels found in Spain, Italy and United Kingdom, representing about 10 million Europeans. As with other drugs, younger adults present higher rates of cocaine use. There has been warning about increases in cocaine use in Europe, prompted by local reports, focused studies conducted in dance settings and increases in seizures indicators. Clear increases were documented in the United Kingdom and Spain during the 1990s and early 2000s. http://www.euroweeklynews.com/ewn/news.php?ref=030812855545310
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