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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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Press Release: European NGOs march for drug peace in Vienna
Joep Oomen ENCOD
Tuesday 04 Mar 2008 European NGOs march for drug peace in Vienna On 7 March, from 17.00 onwards, a Drug Peace March will take place to the seat of the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs in Vienna. The march marks the start of a counter-event organised by the European Coalition for Just and Effective Drug Policies (ENCOD) on the occasion of the annual meeting of the CND that will take place from 10 to 14 March 2008. The purpose of the CND meeting is to evaluate the results of a ten year strategy that was decided upon in New York in 1998, a strategy whose goal was “to eliminate or significantly reduce the illicit manufacture, marketing and trafficking of drugs”. According to the latest figures of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, the production of illegal drugs in the past ten years has increased, with 100 % in the case of opium, 19 % in the case of cocaine, and 40 % in the case of cannabis. ENCOD, an independent platform of NGOs and individual citizens involved in the drug issue as consumers, health workers or researchers, maintains that the prohibition of drugs maximises the burden for those with little or no participation in the drug market, while it has no measurable impact on the global size of this market at all. "In fact", says ENCOD, "drug prohibition increases the size and negative repercussions of this market." In a message to the CND meeting (see http://www.encod.org/info/ENCOD-BULLETIN-39.html ), ENCOD wishes the governments’ delegates in the CND meeting "a clear head. You will have the opportunity to make a historical contribution to improve the living standards for millions of people, and at the same time attack the main income source of organised crime." ENCOD proposes that governments "adopt non-repressive strategies in drug policy that do not threaten the livelihood of peasants in developing countries, do not damage the health of consumers and do respect the rights of citizens, such as the right to grow and use natural plants for personal consumption. Strategies should be implemented that would create legal means for the production and use of hemp/cannabis, opium and coca, plants that have served humanity for thousands of years." The counterevent will also include a a conference with (inter)national experts in the Vienna University (Altes AKH). For more information please see http://www.encod.org/info/VIENNA-2008-TEN-YEARS-AFTER.html ENCOD invites the representatives of the media to a Press Conference with some organisers and speakers of the conference. Place: Cafe Landmann, Dr. Karl Lueger Ring 4, 1010 Vienna Time: Friday 7 March - 11.00 hs Contact for more information: Joep Oomen – ENCOD Coordinator Tel. 0699 816 12676 / + 32 (0)3 293 0886 / + 32 (0)495 122644 E-mail: info@encod.org Otmar Pusch Tel: 0681 1036 0480 E-mail: pusch.otmar@gmx.at Andreas Holy Tel: 0699 1622 8661 E-mail: a.holy@found.at EUROPEAN COALITION FOR JUST AND EFFECTIVE DRUG POLICIES Lange Lozanastraat 14 – 2018 Antwerpen - Belgium Tel. + 32 (0)3 293 0886 – Mob. + 32 (0)495 122644 E-mail: info@encod.org http://www.encod.org
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