Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-02-13-Speech-4-021"
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"en.20030213.2.4-021"2
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"Madam President, Commissioner, I am one of those who take the view that, where the global repercussions of drug addiction for public health, crime and insecurity are concerned, it would be preferable, wherever possible, to develop European approaches. I therefore welcome this proposal for a recommendation and the excellent report by Mrs Malliori.
Our policy for combating drug addiction has proved to be a failure: the prohibitionist approach has given trafficking oxygen, allowing it to thrive and to make ever-greater profits, boosting both organised and petty crime, corrupting regimes and humiliating us for being powerless to do anything about it. Furthermore, the deterioration of drug addicts’ health is of concern, but also the health risks arising from infection such as HIV, tuberculosis, hepatitis B and hepatitis C, as well as the increasing number of deaths from overdoses and poisoning. Faced with such problems, it is impossible to be absolutely sure of what approach to take. We must, however, move in a new direction.
Although I believe that the debate must continue calmly in the United Nations on the impact on public health and crime of the possible decriminalisation of some drugs, I do not think that this should be our priority. Our priority should be, firstly, to draw up rational prevention policies based on scientific knowledge of each drug and not on an emotional response and on the radical approach which, by treating all drugs equally, ultimately removes the credibility of preventive action.
Our second priority is to develop a risk-reduction policy. For those infected for whom free drug treatments have not achieved positive results, methadone substitution programmes must be pursued. It is also important that experiments involving administering heroin under medical supervision to patients with a long history of failure to respond to treatment and chronic illnesses are pursued and implemented in other States. We must also be able to undertake an evaluation of these results. Many of these experiments have shown positive results in reducing crime, the number of overdoses by poisoning and the number of those infected with HIV, tuberculosis, hepatitis B and hepatitis C."@en1
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