Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-12-14-Speech-2-319"
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"en.20041214.17.2-319"2
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".
Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, I believe that the European Union’s anti-drugs strategy, which is on the agenda for debate, ought to operate exclusively through a scientific approach, through an analysis of the actual situation and of the experience on this issue built up over recent years. In contrast, unfortunately, the argument is all too often permeated with ideologies and dogmatic or emotive approaches.
The data available to us allow us to take a practical approach. I refer, in particular, to the data supplied to us by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, based in Lisbon. As is well-known, these data are not only of high scientific value but also of proven reliability. The 2004 report by the Lisbon Centre indicates that the situation regarding deaths from heroin and heroin users in Europe is, all in all, stable but that no decrease has been seen in the transmission of HIV, which is even spreading in some new Member States; that the consumption of cocaine is increasing in the majority of Member States; that cannabis is the most widely-used substance, with over 20% of European citizens having used it or currently using it; and that the use of ecstasy is as high as, if not even higher than, amphetamine use. All this unequivocally demonstrates that the strategies adopted up to now have not had positive results.
With regard to drug use in prisons, the Centre indicates that drug users are over-represented in prison; that the use of drugs among detainees ranges from 22 to 86%, depending on the prison population, the prison and the country; and that prisons are a high-risk environment for the spread of infectious diseases.
With regard to the criminalisation of drug use, the Centre explains that in many Member States the process of criminalising the use of narcotics has led to an increase in the use of these substances. I should point out to my Swedish fellow Members that the Centre’s report contains a specific reference to the situation in Sweden, where a study is cited which shows that with the repressive strategies in force in that country the drug market has intensified; it concludes that there is no specific proof for the argument that the criminalisation of drug use has a deterrent effect on young people.
Finally, with regard to drug trafficking, Europol indicates that narcotics trafficking accounts for approximately 2 to 5% of world GDP, which goes directly into the hands of drug traffickers and large criminal organisations worldwide. The US drugs agency estimates that in 2005 Afghanistan will export over five thousand tons of opium, of which 95% will end up in Europe. This demonstrates that the action plan adopted by the UN in 1998 has not had positive results, and this is also true in terms of the importance of drugs in funding organised crime and terrorism. A prominent prosecutor, Gerardo D'Ambrosio, has explained to us that to finance the Madrid attack the Al-Quaida terrorists bartered 250 kilograms of hashish for the TNT.
Our report, which has been adopted by the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs, is therefore based on the need to fight drug trafficking, organised crime and terrorism and to give priority to saving lives and protecting health. The issue must not be treated as a question of public order or a matter for repression, but exclusively as a social and economic issue. For these reasons we have focused the report on the issue of the strategy for harm reduction and substitution treatment in prisons, as well as on the need to apply scientific knowledge to the effects produced by drugs, to launch scientific studies on the costs and benefits of the current policies to curb narcotics, to help producer countries to convert their agriculture, to study the effects that cannabis, opium and coca leaves can have in the medical sphere and, lastly, to take action on the confiscation of criminal and terrorist assets derived from money laundering and drug trafficking.
I therefore call on the European Parliament to adopt this report, on the Commission to back it and on the Council – which is unfortunately absent, having clearly already made up its mind – to consider including this recommendation on the agenda for the meeting to be held in three days’ time. I would also like to mention that this recommendation was put together with the support of many organisations."@en1
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