New EU Drug Action Plan 2009-2012

[Dragonfan]

Monday 22 December 2008

 

To the members of the EU Horizontal Drugs Group, the members of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs of the European Parliament

 

COMMENT OF ENCOD TO THE DRUGS ACTION PLAN OF THE EUROPEAN UNION 2009-2012

 

Antwerp, 15 December 2008

 

Dear Madams, Sirs,

 

Please find herewith the communication of the European Coalition for Just and Effective Drug Policies (ENCOD) on the new EU Drugs Action Plan for 2009 - 2012 that has been proposed by the European Commission to be approved by the Member States and the European Parliament.

 

Looking forward to your response, sincerely yours,

 

On behalf of ENCOD (a pan-European network of more than 150 organisations and individual citizens involved in the phenomenon of drugs)

André Fürst, Switzerland

Jan Ludewig, Germany

Virginia Montañes, Spain

Joep Oomen, Belgium

Fredrick Polak, The Netherlands

Alessandra Viazzi, Italy

(members of the Steering Committee)

 

INTRODUCTION

We propose the governments of the European Union to adopt a drug action plan that protects the health and safety of the European society in stead of deteriorating them. European citizens need strategies that contribute to a safer environment around the phenomenon of drugs, that allow a more rational use of public funds, that respect human rights take into account the implications for vulnerable populations and especially women, and which don’t threaten the livelihoods of farmers in developing countries.

 

In short a drug policy that causes benefits to society instead of harms. This new drugs action plan should include the following priorities:

 

1. INFORMATION, INVESTIGATION AND EVALUATION

To increase the investigation of and extend the knowledge base concerning forms in which drug consumers can intervene directly in the reduction of risks and harms related to their own consumption of drugs.

To investigate and evaluate the innovative strategies, programmes and interventions in the area of drug policy, including alternative treatments such as the controlled distribution of substances.

To encourage the participation of organisations of drug consumers in the design and development of investigations.

To take into account the gender perspective in investigations and evaluations.

To guarantee the objective analysis of the data produced by investigations, without political manipulations.

To promote international workshops that facilitate the exchange of information and experiences among the different groups of people affected by drugs, according to the complexity of themselves and the substances they use.

Investigate the ties between the industry of legal drugs (alcohol, tobacco and pharmaceutical companies, etc.) and health institutions.

 

2. COORDINATION

To promote the decentralisation of drug policies to the local and national levels, and coordinate the co-operation between neighbouring countries and regions in order to avoid possible frictions.

To defend in the meetings of the UN the sovereignty of every nation to establish forms of regulation of the drugs market that are socially and culturally acceptable to the local populations involved.

To allow a broader margin to local authorities to experiment with alternative policies and innovative interventions (that may include steps towards the legalisation of certain substances), from which others may learn useful lessons in their search for more just and effective drug policies, based on the respect of human rights and the protection of public health.

To increase and strengthen the participation of civil society in the design of drug policies.

To extend the membership of the EU Civil Society Forum on Drug Policies to all civil society organizations that wish to take part in it.

To formalise the character of the conclusions of this forum as a direct consultation of civil society to the Member States, without the unnecessary interference of the European Commission in the formulation of conclusions and recommendations of this forum.

 

3. SUPPLY REDUCTION.

To rationalise the supply of drugs and reduce as much as possible the criminality associated with the black market, making use of effective measures.

To facilitate, analyse and evaluate the establishment of legal circuits to control the drugs market with the aim of reducing the presence of the illegal market.

 

4. DEMAND REDUCTION.

To reduce the problems that are related to drug consumption within a context of illegality; to improve, innovate and support ways to make drug consumers and distributors responsible (among others with initiatives such as the testing of illegal substances)

To facilitate and encourage the establishment of self support groups of drug consumers, and develop intervention methods that are more effective in reducing risks and harms associated to the use of substances.

To strengthen the establishment of self support groups formed by peers (parents, young people, consumers etc.) and support the contributions of this kind of groups.

To limit the intervention of institutions exclusively to non-repressive strategies concerning the problematic use of drugs, which should be understood as the use that is considered problematic by the consumer him/herself.

To establish and respect ethical codes for the publicity and promotion of drugs, legal or illegal.

To give specific attention to vulnerable groups, such as mothers who consume drugs and minors in situations of high risk; to apply prevention policies that are aiming at “safe neighbourhoods” and the reduction of marginalisation and social exclusion that is affecting these vulnerable groups.

 

5. INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION.

To respect the sovereignty of third countries and their autonomy to formulate own drug policies. The principle of European policy should always be the protection of health, the respect of human rights and the prevention of conflicts.

To support the proposals of farmer communities in developing countries in order to create legal channels of commercialisation for the derivatives of plants that have been prohibited by the UN Conventions, such as coca leaves in South America, cannabis in Morocco and opium in Afghanistan.

To exchange experiences of good practices between the European Union and third countries, based on the respect of sovereignty and avoiding the imposition of policies that have proved to be a failure.

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On 17 December 2008, we received the following reply from the European Commission:

 

Dear Members of the ENCOD Steering Committee,

 

Subject: EU Drugs Action Plan for 2009-2012

 

Thank you very much for your message and your comments on the EU Drugs Action Plan (2009-2012). As you may know, the Action Plan was adopted by the Council of the European Union 8 December 2008.

 

The final wording of the EU Drugs Action Plan (2009-2012) is a result of negotiations in the Council based on a Commission proposal in September 2008. In the end, the wording was unanimously agreed by all Member States and therefore provides a solid framework for EU drug policies.

 

As far as civil society consultation is concerned, the Civil Society Forum organised by the Commission in May 2008 gave valuable input to the drafting process in the Commission. As you may see, many of the conclusions of the Civil Society Forum are reflected in the text of the Action Plan.

 

We have taken note of the comments in your e-mail and look forward to continuing constructive dialogue with civil society representatives in the next meeting of the Civil Society Forum foreseen to take place in March 2009.

 

Kind Regards,

 

Carel Edwards

Head Of Unit

EUROPEAN COMMISSION

DIRECTORATE-GENERAL JUSTICE, FREEDOM AND SECURITY

Directorate D : Fundamental Rights and Citizenship

Unit D3 : Anti drugs policy

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On 22 December, we sent the following reply to Mr. Edwards:

 

Dear Carel Edwards

Thanks for your reply to our letter to the members of the EU Horizontal Drugs Group and the European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties, referring the new EU Action Plan on Drugs.

 

We have following questions with regards to your letter.

 

1. You write that the action plan has already been approved on December 8th, 2008.

 

Why have the members of the EU Civil Society Forum not been notified of this decision, for instance through the recently created Internet Page of the Civil Society Forum? Why has there been no press release?

Why has the European Parliament not been involved in this procedure, as was the case in 2004 at the adoption of the EU Strategy for 2005-2012 and the first Action Plan for 2005-2008?

 

2. You write that opinions of civil society, as issued on the CSF of May 2008, have been included in the new plan. Is it possible for you to send us a copy (in all available languages) of the definitive version of the plan to verify this?

 

What is the current status of the proposal to create a "European Alliance on Drugs" - a proposal that has never been mentioned in any of the civil society consultations in the past years and which seems to have surged from the European Commission or the European Council without any feedback from the Civil Society organisations that are supposed to take part in this alliance?

In our view the creation of a "European Alliance on Drugs" should be the last step of an open process that brings together all kinds of opinions and experiences, from different parts of society, and that aims at formulating the basic principles on which all partners can agree.

With all respect, announcing the establishment of a new body with a name that might create confusion among several involved stakeholders, is not the best way to start this process.

 

Hoping for your answer we wish you and your colleagues pleasant holidays and a happy new year.

 

André Fürst, Switzerland

Jan Ludewig, Germany

Virginia Montañes, Spain

Joep Oomen, Belgium

Fredrick Polak, The Netherlands

Alessandra Viazzi, Italy

(members of the Steering Committee)

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A few hours later on 22 December, we received this reply:

 

Thank you very much for your message.

 

As far as your further questions are concerned, I hope the following addresses them properly.

 

Even if the final EU Drugs Action Plan is a Council document, the Commission did indeed publish a press relase on its final adoption. You may find the press release from vice - president Barrot (in three languages) at http://europa.eu/rapid/searchResultAction....;guiLanguage=en

 

The document itself was made available in the Council website at http://www.consilium.europa.eu/cms3_fo/sho...g=EN&mode=g (search for cordrogue documents, EU Action Plan on Drugs)

 

The text has also been published in the Official Journal 20.12.2008 and is available in all Community languages at http://eur-lex.europa.eu/JOHtml.do?uri=OJ:...326:SOM:EN:HTML

 

The original Commission proposal was also sent to the European Parliament for information, as was the case with the previous Drugs Action Plan and Strategy.

 

As far as your question on the European Alliance is concerned, it is a very recent and an evolving idea that the Commission will be discussing with all key stakeholders (e.g. the Youth Forum, Health Forum) and it will also be the main theme for discussions in the next Civil Society Forum on Drugs.

 

Finally, I’d like to use the opportunity to inform you that letters/messages addressed to the Council, it’s working groups etc. and to other European Institututions should be addressed to each one of them respectively.

 

Kind regards,

 

Timo Jetsu

On behalf of Carel Edwards

Head of Unit