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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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EU Parliament Adopts Report Critical of Drug War
DRCNet.org Stopthedrugwar.com
Friday 24 Dec 2004 In Run-Up to New European Union Drug Strategy, European Parliament Adopts=20 Report Critical of Continued Drug War 12/24/04 http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/368/eureport.shtml Meeting in Strasbourg on December 15, a plenary session of the European=20 Parliament approved a report on the new European Union (EU) drug strategy=20 that bluntly calls existing EU policy "a failure" and proposes fundamental= =20 changes in European drug policy. While the parliament's action is not=20 binding on the Council of Europe, the executive branch of the EU, European= =20 drug reformers told DRCNet passage of the resolution would help set the=20 tone for discussions scheduled for early next year that will determine=20 European drug policy for the next five years. The "Catania Report," named after Member of the European Parliament (MEP)=20 Giusto Catania, who submitted it for consideration by the parliament, calls= =20 for the adoption of harm reduction as a "crucial element in drug policies;"= =20 increased research on the beneficial uses of cannabis, coca, and opium; and= =20 institutional support for the involvement of civil society in the=20 formulation of EU drug policy, among other things. "Parliamentary approval of the report sends a very clear message to the=20 European authorities and citizens that Europe is at a turning point in its= =20 approach to the global drug issue," said Joep Oomen, spokesman for the=20 European Coalition for Just and Effective Drug Policies=20 (http://www.encod.org), a drug reform umbrella group that has been working= =20 to make progress in the institutions of the EU. "A political dilemma can be= =20 solved," he told DRCNet. "For the first time in history, a parliament of=20 such high reputation as the EP has expressed the need to end conventional=20 thinking about drugs. We are close to the first major decision to stop the= =20 war on drugs." The vote was close, with the report passing by a slender margin of 286 to=20 271. "This tight margin suggests that there has been quite some discussion= =20 going on within the political groups inside the EP," said Oomen. "It=20 appears that some members of traditionally conservative groups like the=20 Christian Democratic European People's Party have voted in favor of the=20 report. We spoke to some members, especially from the Eastern European=20 countries, and it seemed they were very grateful to see the doubts they=20 have expressed about the official drug policy confirmed in the report." The vote reflected regional differences, Oomen said. "The division over=20 prohibition in Europe is not only ideological but geographic. While the=20 East Europeans appear open to new solutions, the Scandinavian=20 representatives have been quite active in blocking any discussion on=20 alternatives to prohibition, but their opposition is losing more and more=20 credibility every day," he explained. MEP Catania thanked ENCOD for its help in pressing for passage of the=20 report. "Thanks to you all and the support you gave us," he wrote in a=20 message to ENCOD. "We are very happy with the result. Please tell to all=20 the members of the network that we are grateful for this cooperation." Passage of the Catania Report was cheered by MEP Marco Pannella of the=20 Transnational Radical Party (http://www.radicalparty.org), who offered=20 several amendments strengthening the report. "This was the first time that= =20 the European Parliament voiced its concerns on current drug polices in such= =20 a clear and precise manner," he said in a statement after the vote. "After= =20 the failures documented by the European Monitoring Center on Drugs=20 (http://www.emcdda.org), now it is up to the European Commission to take=20 into account the political views expressed by the EP in view of defining=20 the 2005-2012 European strategy on drugs." But that is by no means a done deal. In fact, two days after the EP=20 approved the Catania Report, the European Council of Ministers voted to=20 adopt the new drug strategy without taking into account its recommendations. "We expected that to happen," said Oomen. "But the approval of the report=20 means that the European Parliament can now put pressure on the European=20 Commission, the executive power in the EU, to apply the recommendations in= =20 the concrete application of this strategy." In order to help apply that pressure, ENCOD has presented a proposal to the= =20 European Commission to jointly organize a large conference involving=20 authorities, parliamentarians and civil society representatives from the 25= =20 EU member states before April, when the commission has to present its Drug= =20 Action Plan as part of the new EU Drug Strategy, in order to discuss the=20 course of EU drug policies in the coming four years. But EU bureaucrats are= =20 not playing along, Oomen said. In a quick response to the proposal, Carel Edwards, head of the EU's=20 Anti-Drug Policy Coordination unit, praised the dialogue that will start=20 next year, but added, "I foresee, without committing myself, that we can do= =20 this in the second half of the year." "This response shows how the bureaucrats play the game," said Oomen. "The=20 second half of the year is too late for this dialogue to have any meaning=20 for the new Drug Action Plan. If the commission does not organize a=20 dialogue now, it is because they lack the will to do it, and it is up to=20 the European Parliament to follow up on this." The ENCOD steering committee= =20 is discussing ways of putting pressure on the commission to act quickly,=20 Oomen added. The reform umbrella group is also considering a medium-term plan to keep=20 the pressure on. "We should consider the EP report as the guideline for=20 future policies of the European Commission," Oomen said. "Of course this is= =20 not the case yet, but we should prepare ourselves for the day it is and it= =20 is coming closer. Our suggestion would be that ENCOD members start=20 preparing a program of activities for the next three years involving either= =20 information, research, harm reduction or peer support activities which=20 could be part of a coordinated work program on a European level." ENCOD=20 will request funding from the European Commission to make its presence at=20 the commission permanent, he added. While ENCOD has spent years mastering the intricacies of the EU=20 bureaucracy, it has not been all just poring over musty documents and=20 mastering parliamentary minutiae. The group has sponsored demonstrations=20 and forums, and in the run-up to the Strasbourg vote, MEPs were treated to= =20 an ENCOD information stand in the parliament headquarters. In addition to=20 learning more about progressive drug policies, MEPs were also given the=20 chance to drink coca tea made available through the joint efforts of ENCOD= =20 and the Andean Council of Coca Producers. The tea was part of an effort to= =20 promote the beneficial uses of plants currently illegal under United=20 Nations anti-drug conventions. The joint presentation is representative of ongoing efforts to strengthen=20 relations between European and Latin American reformers. At Strasbourg,=20 more steps in that direction took place. MEP Alain Lipietz, head of the=20 EP's delegation for relations with the Andean countries, declared that=20 Europe "needs to change its policies concerning traditional cultivation of= =20 plants like the coca leaf, in order to stop the repression that these=20 generate not only against the people involved, but also against the=20 environment, affected by the violent way in which this cultivation is=20 approached today -- fumigations, forced eradication, militarization." And in a meeting with Bolivian parliamentarian Dionisio Nu=F1ez, who=20 participated in the ENCOD delegation in Strasbourg, Lipietz said he will=20 start official conversations between the EP and the Latin American=20 Parliament to seeks progress in the EU process toward the decriminalization= =20 of commercial coca products in Europe. The Latin American Parliament will=20 be in Lima in May. While American drug reformers are still trying to find a place at the=20 table, the Europeans are helping to fundamentally reshape continental drug= =20 policy. Maybe we in the New World still have something to learn from Old=20 Europe. The read the Catania Report online, click here. -- END --
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